


Photobooths

by linasane



Series: Photobooths!Verse [1]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: AU, Fluff, Happy Ending, M/M, SO MUCH FLUFF, Temporary Character Death, like ridiculous amounts of cheese and fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-01
Updated: 2014-06-13
Packaged: 2018-01-03 03:56:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 22,238
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1065481
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/linasane/pseuds/linasane
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Castiel has a thing for photobooths, and Dean doesn't have it in him to deny Cas the things he loves.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Dean's Project

**Author's Note:**

> Hey all! So this is my first attempt at a Destiel fic, and it's pretty freakin cheesy, but I think it turned out pretty well.  
> I'm going to keep adding onto the fic, but there's no set update schedule, I'll just post as a write. Each chapter should be able to stand on it's own, though, so hopefully the whole thing won't read like a WIP.  
> This is also totally un-beta'd, so apologies for any mistakes!  
> Hope you all enjoy :).
> 
> EDIT 6/13/14: The fic is complete, so although I might add to the 'verse later, there won't be any more updates for now.

 

Castiel has always had a thing for photobooths. Ever since they got together, hell, ever since they were  _kids_ , Cas has dragged Dean into any photobooth they passed by. When they were younger it was only a once in a while thing. They usually spent their time running around the neighborhood or the local park instead of anywhere where the machines could be found. But Dean remembers how every year, whenever the state fair was on, Cas would always grab him by the wrist and bodily drag him to the photobooths, first thing. As they got older they stopped spending as much time together, but, every once in a while, they would hang out and catch a movie, and Dean would find himself squished in beside his friend on the bench of the photobooth outside of the cinema entrance.

They had drifted apart when they went off to separate colleges, but Dean had never been able to look at one of the boxy contraptions without being reminded of Cas. He never went in, though. His ex, Lisa, had even tried to pull him into one once at a friend's wedding, but it just wouldn't have felt right without his best friend.

When he and Cas had reconnected a few years after college – thanks to Sam urging Dean to stop being a grouchy old man and finally get on social media – Dean had been surprised to find that they were living less than an hour apart, Dean having moved to Palo Alto to be closer to Sam and Cas having found better job offers in San Francisco, and they had decided to meet up for coffee at an outdoor mall more or less halfway between their respective homes. After three hours sitting and getting reacquainted, chatting and laughing about anything and everything, they had emerged from the coffee shop and wandered around the mall, not quite ready to part ways, when they came across a photobooth. Cas spotted it first, his face lighting up in an all-too-familiar way. Dean thought it was almost comical how that look hadn't changed at all since the first time he'd seen it on nine-year-old Cas's face. Just like old times, he had found himself with Cas's iron grip around his wrist, being manhandled into the tiny space. He remembered there being a lot more room in these things when they were younger, but trying to fit two grown men onto a three-foot bench resulted in Cas all but sitting in Dean's lap. Once the machine started up, Cas had turned to Dean, as he always had, ready to ask what kind of faces they should make. Only then had the two men noticed just how close they were sitting, and Dean found himself in a horribly cliché chick flick moment as their first kiss was documented by the machine. But, as the camera went off in the background, bright flashes muted by the sensation of Cas's lips on his own, Dean had found himself unable to care.

He chuckles at the memory now as he reaches up to grab the shoebox he's kept hidden at the back of their shared closet. In the six years since then, he's lost count of how many times he's found himself crammed inside one of the tiny contraptions. Cas can't walk past one without stopping, grabbing Dean's wrist and giving him that same excited look; Dean still hasn't found a way to say no to that face. He doesn't know what Cas does with his halves of all the photostrips, but all of Dean's have found their way into this box. He's even got the ones from when they were kids. Some are a bit wrinkled, and most have faded over time, but he's still managed to keep each and every one. And, by now, there are  _hundreds_. Dean smiles as he opens the lid.  _Yeah,_  he thinks to himself,  _these are gonna be_ perfect.

He takes the box with him into the spare room, setting it down next to the rest of his supplies. When they first moved in three years ago, they hadn't been able to decide what to do with the space. Dean had wanted a music room, and Cas had pushed for a library. But the books and records found their way onto the shelves that lined the living room walls, and the couple had been stumped as to what to do with their spare room after that. So, for the past few years, it had served more or less as storage. But Dean had moved all the junk they had kept in here into the garage yesterday. Cas had left the day before for New York to visit Gabriel, and Dean had seized the opportunity to get to work on a project he's been planning for a while now. He looks around the blank white walls of the room once more before opening the tub of wallpaper glue and picking up a brush.

Five hours later and he's got three walls covered. He had been smart enough to write the dates on the backs of each of the photostrips, so it had been fairly easy to paste them up on the walls in chronological order. The pictures of him and Cas as kids start by the door and they move around the room from there. He's arranged them in a long five-photostrip-wide stripe that winds its way along three walls room, going up and around the small window on the wall across from the door. The whole process so far probably would've taken him only two or three hours, but Dean's been distracted reminiscing. He runs a hand through his hair before picking up his glue brush and approaching the empty wall.  _This is so freaking cheesy_ , he thinks to himself,  _but, in for a penny right?_  He shakes his head, chuckling at what a sap he's become as he sticks the very last photostrip up on the wall.

* * *

Castiel lets out a long sigh as the shuttle pulls up outside the house he and Dean share. As much as he loves Gabriel, he's never been able to handle him for more than a few days at a time. So his week in New York had been exhausting. Plus, if he's honest, he's missed Dean and he's just so ready to be home. He can already feel himself starting to relax as he walks in the door. He kicks off his shoes and throws his keys onto the side table.

"Dean?" he calls out, shrugging out of his trenchcoat and hanging it in the hall closet.

"In the spare room!" comes the somewhat muted response.

Cas doesn't spare much thought as to why Dean would be in the hardly-used space, too impatient to see his boyfriend after their time apart. Leaving his bags in the entryway, he makes his way to the spare room and stops short in the doorway.

The first thing he notices is that there are candles  _everywhere_. Enough so that the room is almost as brightly lit as the hallway he just came from. And then he catches sight of the newly decorated walls. Just as Dean knew he would, he starts to make his way around the room, looking at all of the photostrips that trigger memory after memory. He starts with the photos from their childhood. He and Dean, sunburnt by the summer sun, smiling toothily at the camera. Then there are the photos from middle school. He laughs outright at some of the photos that have clearly captured each of their awkward stages; one strip is particularly embarrassing, featuring Cas with shiny braces and Dean with a rather unfortunate haircut. There are fewer pictures from high school, and none from their college years. Cas stops for a moment in front of the photos from the day they were reunited, smiling to himself at the memory of their first kiss. As he wanders the room, he begins to tear up just a bit, overwhelmed by so many memories. Some of the strips are funny, he and Dean pulling ridiculous faces. Some are sweet, from important dates or anniversaries. Some of them even feature Sam sticking his head into the shot, unable to fit his enormous frame fully into the photobooth. Cas eventually finishes the third wall and turns to the fourth, empty save for one photostrip pasted dead center. He makes his way over to it, so focused that he doesn't hear Dean slip into the room behind him.

As he gets closer, he realizes this strip it completely unfamiliar to him. He's hurt for a second, that Dean had gone into a photobooth without him. He'd always thought of it as their thing. But then he realizes that the Dean in the photos has got something in his hands; he moves closer, squinting to make out the words on the papers photo-Dean is holding up. Each of the four pictures features a different word.

Hey

Babe,

Turn

Around.

Castiel follows the directions, turning around slowly, the suspicion of what this is all about finally creeping in. Sure enough, he turns to find Dean standing behind him. He's more dressed up than Cas has ever seen him, in a full perfectly tailored black suit. As Castiel turns, Dean slowly lowers himself down onto one knee.

"Cas," Dean says, and  _shit_ , he knows his voice is noticeably shaking at this point. He pauses, trying to calm his nerves, but it's an impossible task under the weight of his boyfriend's shocked gaze. He had a whole speech planned out, painstakingly written up and (embarrassingly enough) practiced in the bathroom mirror more times that he would ever admit, but that all flies out the window now, as he's not sure if he can speak past the lump in his throat that seems to be made up of entirely too many emotions – nervousness, excitement, joy, insecurity, love – all rolled into one. So he decides to cut to the important part.

"Will you marry me?"

* * *

Hours later, the candles in the spare room have long since gone out and the floor is scattered with their fallen clothing. They've finally made it to their bed and have been lying there in comfortable silence when something occurs to Cas. He whips around in his fiancé's arms, startling the other man, who had been seconds from sleep. As soon as they make eye contact, Dean lets out a low chuckle…he knows  _that look_. He slowly extracts one of his arms from their tangle of limbs and reaches over to the bedside table, rummaging around in the drawer. When he turns back around he's got a glossy pamphlet in his hand, and in the darkness Cas can just make out the words "Photobooth Rentals."

"I already called, babe." Dean murmurs, pressing a soft kiss to Cas's temple, "And yes, they do weddings."


	2. Their Present

Dean and Cas return from their honeymoon to find their living room overrun with boxes. When they sent out wedding invitations, they had let everyone know that they didn't want any gifts, – in fact, Dean had gone so far as to add a tiny note at the bottom informing guests that "any fancy china sets  _will_  be used for target practice" – so they'd been surprised to find a table full of gifts at their reception. Gabriel, as it turned out, had set up a gift registry for them and, with the help of Sam and Jess, sent it out to all of their guests. The couple had managed to forget all about the table of presents over the course of the night, leaving them behind when they set off for their honeymoon, but apparently Sam or Gabe had brought everything over from the reception hall (considering the way the gifts are stacked haphazardly on every available surface, Dean's money is on Gabe).

They leave their bags at the door, moving into the living room. Dean looks around at all the gifts before turning to his husband.

"Might as well open 'em, right?" he asks, "It's not like we can return them."

Cas chuckles softly, "Right," he confirms with a nod, leaning over the press a quick kiss on the other man's lips. He has no doubt that Dean would try and return everything if he thought he could get away with it. Even as a kid, he had never been good at receiving presents, said it always made him feel like he owed people.

They spend the next two hours sitting on the floor of the living room together, slowly opening their gifts. Dean's surprised to find that he's enjoying himself, and that most of the gifts Gabriel had registered them for are pretty cool. There's the special edition Star Wars boxed set that Charlie had gotten them, a new blender from Ellen and Jo, some ridiculous all-in-one home remote from Ash, and a state-of-the-art coffeemaker from Bobby that Cas practically salivates over. Dean laughs outright at the other man's reaction, knowing that he's going to have to deal with a jittery, over-caffeinated husband for the next few weeks. Cas had apparently developed a taste for coffee over the course of one too many all-nighters in college, and even though his need for caffeine (and his tolerance for it) had long since passed, his love for the stuff hadn't. He grabs the box out of the other man's hands and gives it a once-over before looking up at Castiel, pointing a finger at the other man.

"We," he says solemnly, gesturing between the two of them, "are gonna figure out how to make you decaf."

Castiel's answering bark of laughter echoes off of the living room walls.

* * *

When all the gifts have been opened and put away, they grab their suitcases from the entryway and make their way to the bedroom.

"I'm surprised there wasn't anything from Sam," Castiel muses.

Dean shrugs, "He and Jess already did so much helping us plan out the wedding. That's enough of a gift for me," he says, nonchalant as ever, although Cas catches the brief look of hurt that flickers across his face. "Besides," Dean adds, "I'd rather get no gift than something like what Gabriel got us."

Cas laughs at that one. When they had gotten to the large box with a tag on it that read, simply,  **From: Gabe** , he had been expecting some horrible collection of over-the-top sex toys or something equally embarrassing. What they had found upon peeling back the paper, however, was so much worse.

"Son of a bitch!" Dean had ground out, but there was a fondness underlying the overt annoyance in his tone.

Gabriel had gotten them the most ridiculously fancy china set Castiel has ever seen. The delicate plates, cups, and saucers were adorned with an intricate gold filigree pattern interspersed with flowers and leaves. Cas had pulled out one of the plates to take a closer look, and he hadn't been able hold back the huff of laughter that escaped his lips as he realized that perched on every leaf was a tiny brightly colored –

"Oh my god, dude, are those  _butterflies_?"

Now, Castiel smiles as he replays Dean's earlier tirade about the plates in his head. They've finally managed to lug their bags to their bedroom and Dean's just about the flop down onto the bed when he notices something new hanging on the wall above their headboard. It's wrapped in plain silver paper, with a tag on the outside that reads  **Congratulations, guys. Love, Sam and Jess.** Dean turns to Cas, a wide smile crinkling the corners of his eyes. Castiel smiles back at his husband and they both move to unwrap the gift together, the paper pulling away easily.

They're both rendered speechless for a few moments when they realize what it is. Dean feels tears well up behind his eyes and curses his little brother for a second; leave it to Sammy to give him something that makes him cry. But then he turns to Cas, who flashes a watery smile back at him, and he knows he's not the only one so affected by the gift.

The space above their headboard is now dominated by a picture frame made to look like a giant photostrip. The top of the frame reads, in large black letters " **Dean & Castiel**." Underneath, in smaller font, is the date they were married. Inside the four individual sections are black and white prints of some of the professional pictures that were taken at the wedding.

The first shot is of the two of them at the altar. It's a close-up, just their shoulders and faces in the frame, but Dean knows it's the moment when they were sliding the rings onto each other's fingers. They're looking up at each other, both of their eyes shining with a tell-tale wetness, with huge grins on their faces.

The next picture makes both of them laugh out loud. Having pie instead of cake had been a minor source of conflict when they had been planning the wedding. Eventually, Cas had conceded; he knew Dean's love of pie rivaled his own love of photobooths, so it only seemed fitting that both of them could have their second-favorite things at their wedding (their absolute favorites being each other, of course). Their wedding pies had been apple, topped with whipped cream and presented on a stand that made them look like a multi-tiered wedding cake. The photographer had managed to capture the exact moment when they had simultaneously decided to crush pieces of apple pie into each other's faces. In the picture, Castiel looks a bit shocked, but there's laughter evident in his eyes, clear even through a layer of whipped cream. Dean is outright smiling, laughing and flicking out his tongue to taste some of the pie filing on his husband's fingers.

The third picture captures the couple from the waist up, arms around each other as they move on the dance floor. Their foreheads are pressed together as they look into one another's eyes. Looking at the picture now, Castiel remembers how blissfully happy he had felt in that moment. He hadn't been aware that the photographer was still taking pictures; then again, he hadn't really been aware of anything else but Dean just then. Now, he leans his head onto his husband's shoulder, smiling as the other man presses a gentle kiss to his hair, because he knows Dean is remembering the same moment, alone in their own world on the dance floor.

The fourth and final picture is the only one in which they're looking directly at the camera. It was taken as they exited the reception hall and headed for the Impala, ready for the short road trip to the harbor where they would board their honeymoon cruise. Their suits are clearly rumpled from a long night of celebration, Cas's tie askew and Dean's collar not quite sitting properly. But the smiles on their faces are just as bright as they were when they first caught site of each other early down the aisle.

Cas turns now and sees that same expression on Dean's face, even more striking in color. He knows that he's mirroring the other man's expression, both of them grinning ridiculously as they hold each other's gaze.

Eventually, they break apart long enough to turn down the bed and crawl under the covers. They don't do anything but sleep that night, exhausted from a long day of travel, but as Dean falls asleep, curled up in Cas's arms and staring up at their own smiling faces, he thinks that he can't get any happier than he is in this moment.

* * *

 

The next day, when the couple finds out what their new china sounds like as it's shattered by the impact of a bullet, he realizes that he can.


	3. Mary's Idea

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sooo this chapter got a little bit out of hand. It was way harder to write than the last two, and it ended up being a lot longer than I expected. Not sure how I feel about it at this point...I might end up editing the whole thing later on. But, in the meantime, hope you all enjoy!

 

The morning after they return from their honeymoon, the newlyweds sleep in, lying curled around each other in bed until Dean's grumbling stomach and Cas' protesting bladder force them out from under the covers around ten. They spend the next twenty minutes reading the instructions of their new coffeemaker over bowls of cereal. When, half an hour later, standing next to the shiny new machine atop their counter, they each take their first sips from steaming mugs, Dean can't help but laugh out loud at the look on Cas's face.

"What?" Cas asks.

"Nothing, babe," Dean says, still laughing, "But I think I just realized how ridiculous I look when I'm eating pie."

"At least I don't outright  _moan_  at my food," Cas huffs, proceeding to throw his head back and let out a deep and exaggerated moan that probably would've made Dean blush…if all the blood in his body wasn't suddenly headed somewhere else.

"I'm sorry," he says, putting down his mug and moving to wrap an arm around his husband's waist and pull him close, "I didn't quite hear you. Could you repeat that?"

Cas sets his coffee down as well, sliding his arms around Dean's neck and moving his lips close to the other man's ear. He rolls his hips against his husband's as he lets out another low moan, this one even filthier than the last. The sound is quickly cut off by Dean's mouth on his, and it's another minute before either man pulls back.

"Come shower with me?" Dean murmurs, pressing another quick kiss to Cas's lips before disentangling himself and sauntering back towards their master bedroom. When he reaches the doorway and turns back, Dean bursts into laughter again at how torn Cas looks, eyes darting between his husband and his still-hot cup of coffee. "I'm gonna go start the shower," Dean tells him, "Come and join me when you're done."

"God I love you," Cas says, picking up his mug as Dean headed down the hallway.

"You better be talking to me and not that damn coffee!" Dean calls back.

* * *

After a long shower, Dean and Cas wander into the spare room to find a flat white box on the floor. When they move closer, they see that it's a delivery box from the photobooth rental company they had used at their wedding. The guests had all gotten prints of their photos immediately, but the company also sent out duplicates to whoever had rented the booth. Dean looks up to tell Cas that Gabriel must've brought the box in for them, only to find that his husband looks happier than a kid on Christmas. He knows what they're doing for the rest of the day.

The two of them sit down side by side in the center of the room. Dean reaches over and grabs the box, placing it in the other man's lap.

"Go on," he tells him, "You know you wanna open it."

Cas leans over a gives him a quick kiss before eagerly pulling the lid off of the box. Inside, there are probably a hundred photostrips featuring them and their guests. The invite list hadn't been huge, mostly family and close friends, and a few of their coworkers, but clearly the photobooth had been a hit with everyone. The couple quickly gets to work separating all the photostrips, half stacked into a pile next to Dean and the other half next to Cas. As they work, they talk about what to do with all of them, occasionally stopping to laugh at a particularly ridiculous shot. In the end, they decide to use the strips to decorate a portion of the emptiest wall in the room, which still holds just the one photostrip that Dean used to propose to Cas. When they finish dividing up all the strips, Dean goes to grab his wallpapering supplies from the garage while Cas goes to do whatever it is he does with his copies of the photos.

On his way out of the house, Dean's cell phone rings, the screen flashing MOM.

"Hey, Mom," he says as he picks up.

"Hi, sweetheart," comes Mary's voice down the line, "I thought I'd give you a call on my lunch break. How's it going? How was the honeymoon?"

Dean can't help the smile that spreads across his face as he grabs the wallpaper glue and supplies from one of the garage shelves, "It was great. We'll tell you all about it later. You and Dad are still coming over for dinner tonight, right?"

"Of course," she tells him, "I was actually just calling to let you know that your father has to work late tonight, so we won't be over until eight at the earliest. But I might be there earlier…I can't wait to hear all about the honeymoon!"

"That's fine," Dean says, chuckling at his mother's excitement, "And Mom? Can you –"

"Don't worry, Dean," Mary cuts him off, "I put everything together for a pie last night; I just need to put it in the oven."

"And  _that_  is why you're the best mom ever," Dean tells her before they say their goodbyes and hang up. Then he heads back inside to the spare room and his husband.

* * *

Pasting the photostrips up on the wall turns out to be a way more time-consuming task than either man anticipated, as they spend more time looking at all of the photos than actually working. Some of the shots are pretty standard, all of the guests taking turns in the booth. There's one of Ellen and Jo, Bobby squeezed in between them, looking out of place without a hat on. Another features John and Mary, Mary smiling and pulling faces while John rolls his eyes fondly. Andrea and Benny had managed to fit their entire family into the booth, each of them holding one of their girls (who looked pretty damn cute in their flower girl dresses) on their lap. Ash stars in one of the other strips; he had taken off his suit jacket to reveal the ridiculous sleeveless shirt underneath and was flipping his mullet around for the camera. Cas and Dean share identical looks of confusion and then laughter when they come upon the photostrip of Garth, rocking aviators and, inexplicably, a sock puppet.

It's easy to tell which pictures were taken later in the evening, once everyone had had a few drinks. Cas's personal favorite out of that bunch features Sam seated on the bench, just barely fitting in the booth, despite the fact that they had ordered the supersized one. Dean and Benny are popping their heads into the left side of the booth, while Cas and Gabe stick theirs in on the right. All five men are wearing ridiculous stick-on mustaches that Gabe had bought. Cas remembers all of them trying to keep straight faces during their four photos and failing miserably. Another strip, clearly taken at the very end of the night, features Garth passed out on the bench, Ash and Jo leaning over him, sharpies in hand.

There are also several photostrips that Dean and Cas consider leaving off the wall entirely, as some of their guests had clearly taken advantage of the fact that the photobooth had provided a secluded area away from prying eyes. There are some fairly hilarious ones, though, including one of Gabe surrounded by women who neither man remembers even being at the wedding. There are even a few photos featuring the happy couple themselves. They've finally decided to keep all of them, but put them up higher on the wall where they're not immediately noticeable, when the doorbell rings.

Castiel answers it to find his new mother-in-law, pie in hand.

She smiles a bit guiltily when he opens the door, "I know I said I'd be over later," she tells him, "But I just couldn't wait to hear all about your honeymoon!"

Cas chuckles as he leans down to give her a hug and a quick kiss on the cheek before taking the pie and leading her inside. "You know you're always welcome here," he tells her, "Dean's in the spare room. Why don't you go on ahead and I'll find some place to hide this so that it actually survives until dinner time."

Mary laughs. "Smart man," she tells him as she heads down the hallway. She runs into Dean halfway to the spare room.

"I smell pie," he grins. And Mary can't help but laugh at the look on her son's face.

"Oh no you don't," she says, reaching up to turn him by the shoulders and push him back towards the room, "that pie is for dessert, and dessert only!" Dean laughs and lets her guide him back down the hallway. Cas has caught up and follows behind them, chuckling at the sight of petite Mary Winchester pushing her fully grown son down the hall.

When they reach the spare room, Mary wanders around and looks at all the different photostrips as the men put up the last remaining ones from the wedding. They work in a comfortable silence until Dean picks up the last strip and gasps.

"Mom…" he says, his curiously excited tone of his voice causing Cas to peer over his shoulder at the photo he's holding.

The strip features Sam and Jess, who looks beautiful a long, flowing dress. Sam is once again crammed onto the photobooth bench seat and Jess is perched on his lap. His arms are wrapped around her, giant hands splayed across her stomach, her hands resting on top of his.

"Mom," Dean says again, and Mary wanders over, glancing at the photo before smiling and looking back up at Dean. "Is Jess…?" he asks.

"Pregnant?" Mary says, unable to keep the huge grin off her face, "Yep! They didn't want to make the announcement until after you guys' wedding. Sam was going to tell you this weekend."

Dean's face splits into a wide grin that mirrors his mother's as he looks up at his husband. "Cas," he says, his voice full of awe and excitement, "Sammy's gonna have a baby!"

Castiel's smiling now too as he wraps an arm around Dean's shoulders, leaning their foreheads together as they stare down at the photostrip, yet another wonderful memory captured by one of Cas' favorite things. "We're going to be uncles, Dean."

* * *

Half an hour later, Cas and Mary are seated at the table, fresh cups of coffee set in front of them, as Dean sets about preparing ingredients for dinner.

"So tell me about the honeymoon," Mary urges, "How was it?"

"It was…amazing," Cas tells her.

They had gone on a 10 day cruise around Mexico. After leaving the reception, the two men had hopped into the Impala, planning to spend the night driving to San Diego, where the ship would leave from in the morning. However, only twenty minutes into the journey it had become clear that they weren't going to be making it to their hotel in San Diego, especially once groping-while-driving had been deemed too dangerous an activity. So Dean had pulled into the first motel they had passed with a vacancy. They booked a room and went to grab their bags from the trunk, only to find a chilling bottle of champagne and a congratulatory note from Gabriel.

"Your brother knows us way too well," Dean had told his husband as they headed to their room.

They had stopped when they reached their door, joking back and forth about which one of them was the "bride," until Cas finally had enough and scooped Dean up, bags and all, and carried him across the threshold.

Dean blushes at this part of the story and mumbles, "I am  _so_  not the bride," making Mary laugh out loud.

Castiel skips over the rest of that night (it had been incredible, but his mother-in-law really didn't need all the details), and tells Mary all about the cruise ship.

It had been magnificent. At first, he had been concerned about being on a boat for ten days, especially considering Dean's feelings on airplanes, but the cruise ship felt more like an elaborate hotel than the floating metal deathtrap the other man had been half expecting. There were lobbies with marble staircases, high ceilings, and detailed chandeliers. The ship had three onboard bars (not counting the two by the pools), two lounges, a casino, and a nightclub. There was also a theater, a water slide (which Dean totally hadn't gone on…), and a game room. The men had explored a bit before taking a glass elevator to their floor and making their way to their room where their bags were waiting. It was fairly small, with just a queen-sized bed, a small table, and a bathroom, but it had an amazing balcony. Cas and Dean had sat outside staring at the water and the harbor until they were called for a mandatory emergency drill. Then they sat at one of the tables in the ship's 24 hour diner (one of the things that had sold Dean on this particular cruise line), and watched out the window as they set sail.

They spent the next ten days lazing on beaches or by the ship's adult-only pool and taking advantage of the cruise's offered excursions including deep sea fishing and swimming with dolphins. They had even spent a day being shown all of the local hotspots (and some amazing restaurants) by a particularly friendly taxi driver. But, if Cas was honest, the best part of the entire experience had been their dinners onboard the ship.

The cruise ship had a few onboard restaurants, as well as a nightly dinner service that was included in the whole package. The restaurant was fairly upscale, and each night had its own dress code. The first night had been black tie, so Cas and Dean had put on the same tuxes they had worn for their wedding.

Castiel laughs as he tells Mary how they had arrived at their assigned table only to find two women in bridal gowns.

The two men had looked at each other, then back to the women, who wore identical looks of shock, before all four of them had burst into laughter. It was the redheaded woman who spoke first, introducing herself as Charlie Bradbury. The brunette seated next to her was her new wife Gilda. Dean and Cas had sat down next to them, introducing themselves as newlyweds as well. The couples had immediately hit it off, swapping engagement and wedding stories.

There had still been two empty chairs left, and soon another couple showed up, this time lacking wedding attire. The woman, Pamela, wore a skintight floor-length backless dress, showing off what looked like a fairly new tattoo that read "Jesse forever."

"Let me guess," Charlie had said, gesturing to the man at Pamela's side who wore a blazer over a tuxedo t-shirt and tight black jeans, "You're Jesse."

Jesse had laughed and nodded before Charlie spoke again, "Whew. Otherwise that would've been  _really_  awkward."

The entire table had cracked up at that one before sinking into easy conversation. As it turns out, Pam and Jesse were on the cruise to celebrate their recent engagement. Pam was halfway through telling their engagement story (which was far raunchier than those of the other two couples), when a blond man sauntered over to their table.

"Hello," he said, surprising the couples with a British accent, "My name is Balthazar and I will be your waiter for the rest of this cruise. I see I've gotten the couples' table this time around! And such good looking couples at that," he proclaimed, looking each and every member of the table up and down, "Well, this is going to be a fantastic trip."

And it had been. After learning quickly not to take offense to Balthazar hitting on each and every one of them, the couples had become fast friends. They spent hours at dinner each night, and even went on excursions together on shore.

"Hey, babe," Dean says, interrupting Cas' descriptions of the other couples, "Show her the pictures."

"Oh, right!" Cas says, getting up from the table, "Be right back."

Mary turns to Dean then, "It sounds like you had a wonderful time, sweetheart."

"Yeah," he says, turning away from where he's forming burger patties and smiling at his mother, "It was great. Charlie and Gilda actually live in San Jose, so they're going to come visit us sometime soon."

Cas comes back into the room then, holding a folder of photos.

"We figured we should have some pictures to put up around the house that didn't come out of a photobooth," he tells Mary.

He sits down next to her and proceeds to explain that each night around dinner time, the cruise staff would set up portrait areas. You could have as many photos taken as possible and then buy whichever ones you wanted at the end of the trip. The three couples had had way too much fun posing for pictures after dinner every night. Cas hands the folder over to Mary and she flips through the photos they bought.

The first few are photos of just Dean and Castiel. There are a few formal ones, with them in their tuxes, and then one from a casual dinner night, taken by the railing of the ship. It had been windy on the deck, so their hair is a bit of a mess, but they have their arms around each other and huge smiles on their faces. Mary almost tears up at that one.

There's also one photostrip from the trip. Dean and Cas had passed a photobooth outside of a souvenir shop one day and, of course, had to go in. They're both shirtless in the pictures, having just come from the beach. The first picture is just them, looking slightly more tanned than usual (well, more burned in Dean's case), arms around each other's shoulders, lazy grins on their faces. In the second shot, Cas has on a sombrero and Dean's wearing what looks to Mary like a blanket ("It's a serape!"), both of them holding maracas and wearing equally cheesy smiles. In the next shot, the two men are holding up a monkey made out of towels. They had found the thing on their bed the night before (apparently it's a cruise ship thing), and Cas had insisted on bringing it out with them. The final frame is just the monkey, seated on the bench with the sombrero on its head. Mary laughs so hard at that that she has to wipe tears from her eyes before she can go back to looking through the professional photographs.

The next picture she turns to shows the newlyweds along with their dinner table-mates. They had all been laughing at how serious all the other groups of people had looked while taking their photographs, and decided they needed a serious, formal picture as well. In the shot, the three pairs stand together, lined up against a cheesy background of a moonlit sky, taller partner behind shorter, arms stiffly placed on the other's waist. Each of them had put on the most exaggeratingly serious face possible, making for a photograph that just looks downright uncomfortable. Dean had laughed so hard when he had seen the end result that they had had to buy it.

The photograph Mary flips to next was taken just after the previous one, still against the cheesy background, but without an ounce of seriousness. Pam and Jesse are turned around, asses to the camera, showing off their matching tattoos. Dean had swept Charlie up into his arms, and their respective spouses stand next to them, Gilda bent over laughing and Cas trying to put on an angry face.

The next picture shows them all against a plain white background, all crowded together with their arms thrown around each other. They're all laughing, and Cas explains to Mary that it was because Balthazar had walked up behind their photographer, a surly man called Crowley, and pinched his ass.

The last photos in the group were both taken on one of the ship's beautiful winding staircases. The photographer had set up the entire photo – Dean and Cas on the highest steps, Pam and Jesse two steps below them, and Charlie and Gilda at the bottom – before instructing them all to kiss. The first photo shows a series of chaste kisses: Dean kissing a smiling Cas on the cheek, Pam giving Jesse a quick peck on the lips, and Charlie pressing a delicate kiss to Gilda's hand, both of them smirking at the camera.

As Mary flips to the next photo, Cas explains that the photographer had yelled at them, "No! I meant a REAL kiss!" The couples had clearly taken her instructions to heart. In this photograph, Charlie's dipping Gilda, kissing her soundly on the lips, and Jesse has Pam lifted up onto the banister, her head thrown back as he mouths at her neck. Dean's pressed up against the opposite banister in the back, using Cas' tie to pull him in bring their open mouths together.

Dean, who's been putting away all the food preparations in the fridge, suddenly comes up behind Mary, realizing what she's looking at. "Oh God, Cas, don't show that one to my MOTHER," he says, appalled.

Cas just shrugs at his husband and Mary can't help but laugh.

* * *

Later that night, after John has joined them and Dean's finished his second piece of pie, Mary suddenly speaks up about the spare room.

"You know, Dean, your father and I still have that old pool table of yours in the basement. Why don't you make it into a game room?"

Dean looks up at Cas and they have one of those married-people silent conversations.

"That's a wonderful idea, Mary," Cas says, "When can we come pick it up?"

* * *

The next day, Dean and Cas are sweaty and tired after setting up their new game room. The pool table sits in the middle, and there's an old couch pushed into one of the corners. Dean's about to collapse on said couch when Cas speaks up from where he's leaning against the pool table, cue in hand.

"You know, Dean," he says, voice low, "I never really got the hang of pool. Maybe you could…show me?"

Dean laughs at the corny-ness of the whole thing, but he wanders over to Cas anyway and sets his hands on the other man's waist. "Well, Cas," he says, lips just brushing his husband's ear, "It's really all about how you position your hips…"

* * *

Two hours later finds Cas and Dean curled up underneath the pool table in their new game room, still sweaty and tired, but now for completely different (and far more enjoyable) reasons.


	4. Their New Addition

"Dean!" Castiel calls down the hallway, keys in hand, "Come on, let's go!" When he gets no response, he wanders down the hall, stopping in the door of the nursery where Dean is bent over the baby carrier set atop the changing table. When Dean straightens up, Cas takes the opportunity to slide behind his husband and wrap his arms around him, resting his chin on his shoulder and peering down at their baby girl.

"Sorry," Dean says, his voice reverberating through Castiel's chest, "I just wanted to make sure she looked alright." He reaches out to adjust the tiny bow atop their daughter's head.

Cas takes a minute to look her over. She's dressed in a hilarious AC/DC onesie her uncle Gabriel had managed to find, her chubby little baby legs clad in soft pink leggings underneath. On her feet are the tiniest pair of hot pink converse Castiel's ever seen (those had been her aunt Jess's idea).

The two men spend a good five minutes just standing together and staring down at their daughter, now asleep in her carrier. After all this time, neither of them can seem to believe that she's finally here.

* * *

Joelle Mary Novak-Winchester was born on September 18th, almost two years after Cas and Dean had gotten married and exactly nine years after they had found each other again. Dean remembers the day that they had decided they wanted children. The conversation had come up, of course, inside of a photobooth.

They had gone out to see a movie and, upon exiting the theater, stumbled upon one of Cas' favorite things. Once they had settled on the bench inside, Cas had played with the controls while Dean stared at the sample photos on the screen. One of them showed a family of four, impossibly crammed into the booth, laughing and smiling.

"Hey, Cas," he had blurted out, "Do you – doyouwannamaybehaveababy?"

Cas had whipped around at that one, photo selections all but forgotten.

"What?" he had asked, blue eyes wide.

Dean took a deep breath, "I said, do you want to maybe, uh, have a baby?" When Cas remained silent, Dean continued, "I mean, I realize we haven't really talked about it all that much, but I've kindof been thinking about it lately and, I don't know," Dean looked down at where his hands were sitting in his lap and said, so quietly Cas almost didn't hear him, "I just kindof want to be a dad."

It took a moment for Cas to unfreeze, shocked as he was. He reached a gentle hand up to his husband's chin, lifting it so he could look into his eyes.

"Dean," he had said, "There is nothing I would love more than to have a child with you."

To anyone else, the photostrip that captured the next few moments wouldn't look like anything special. It's simply four frames in which Dean and Cas sit staring at each other, Castiel's hand still on his husband's chin. But when Dean looks at it, he can always catch the soft smiles on their faces in the last frame; and when Castiel looks at it, he always remembers the huge grin that had broken out on Dean's face just after the final photo was taken.

They finally make it out the door, and soon Dean's behind the wheel of the Impala, driving slower than he ever has. There's precious cargo in the backseat, after all. When he looks in the rearview mirror and sees his husband tucked in next to his daughter, he can't help but smile at the immense love he feels for his family.

In the backseat, Castiel stares down at his little girl, and he too feels his heart swell with love. His mind is brought back to a moment, maybe a week after they had made the official decision to have a child.

They had been lying curled up in bed after having stayed up too long researching their options for starting a family, Cas' head pillowed on Dean's chest, Dean absentmindedly running a hand through Cas' hair. Castiel had been lost in worried thought for a while, but he was surprised when Dean picked up on it.

"What's wrong?" his husband had asked, the hand in his hair pausing as he looked up, concerned.

"Nothing," Cas had mumbled into the other man's chest. A beat of silence had passed before he rolled onto his back and confessed to the ceiling, "I'm scared I'm not going to love our child enough."

"Cas," Dean said gently, rolling onto his side to get a better look at the other man, "What do you mean? Do you not want this?"

"No, no," Cas said quickly, turning his head to look at Dean, "It's not that at all. It's just that…I mean, you know how my parents were with me and Gabe. They were…distant at best, and we were theirs, biologically. What if we adopt or something, and I can't love our child enough?"

"Cas," Dean said again, "Babe, c'mere." He reached out an arm and Castiel allowed himself to be pulled into his husband's embrace. He tucked his head under Dean's chin and the other man pressed a kiss to the top of his head. It was a few minutes before Dean spoke again.

"Castiel Novak," he said, chuckling a bit despite the seriousness of the moment, "You are one of the most loving people I know. I mean, even when we were kids, you always looked after everyone else. Remember Alfie? God, you almost got both of our asses kicked looking out for that kid, and you didn't even know him! Or remember that time you found that baby bird and you made me feed it from an eye dropper for  _days_  because your parents wouldn't let you keep it? Or even Johnny. I know you love that kid something fierce, Cas. And he's Sam and Jess', not yours. But you love him because he's  _family_. Just like our kid's gonna be family, blood-related or not."

Castiel didn't respond, but Dean felt him sniffle a bit into his t-shirt, and he knew his husband understood.

* * *

They had eventually decided on surrogacy, choosing to both contribute so as not to know whose child it was biologically. After a lengthy search, they had found a woman named Anna to carry their child. Anna and her husband Inias already had three children of their own, and Anna had told them that after her third child, she had felt a calling to do something for those who couldn't bear children themselves. She lived a good distance away, closer to the San Diego area, but Cas and Dean had kept in touch with her throughout what seemed to be a fairly easy pregnancy.

Two weeks ago, a week before Anna was due, the couple had driven to San Diego and stayed at a hotel to eagerly await the birth of their daughter. Sure enough, three days after they arrived, Inias had called to tell them that Anna had gone into labor. They had rushed to the hospital, intent on staying in the waiting area, but Anna had graciously welcomed them into the delivery room where they had watched as their daughter was born (and if Dean had gone a bit faint at the sight and had to lean on Cas for a bit, well, that wasn't anybody's business but theirs).

* * *

Now, Cas sits in the same place as he did when they had pulled away from the hospital and began the long journey home. As he watches, the baby wakes, slowly blinking her eyes open to stare up at him. Not for the first time, he almost laughs at his previous worries that he couldn't love a child that wasn't biologically his. With her blond hair and bright green eyes, Joelle is clearly Dean's. But, if anything, that just makes Castiel love her more – this beautiful little baby, his daughter, a little piece of the man he loves. He can't help but lean in to press a gentle kiss to her tiny kiss.

"You're perfect," he murmurs.

* * *

Eventually, despite Dean driving considerably under the speed limit, they make it to their destination. Deciding to forgo the baby carrier – they're not going to be here long – Cas unbuckles the baby and lifts her into his arms before joining Dean at the front of the car.

Dean smiles when he sees that she's awake, pressing a quick kiss to the top of her head, "Hey, baby girl. You ready?" he asks, more to Cas than their daughter. When he looks back up at the other man, he catches a glimpse of that all-too-familiar look on his face and laughs, "I'm gonna take that as a yes. Come on then, let's go."

He leads the way to a photobooth, the very same one in which they had decided to have a baby in the first place. When he gets there, he stops, turning to speak to the little girl in his husband's arms.

"Now, Joelle," he says, with all the mock-seriousness he can muster, "This here is a photobooth. You're going to see a lot of these over the years, if your Papa has anything to do with it, so you might as well just accept it now…" Dean continues his explanation of the machine all the way until they're all finally squeezed inside. There are definitely people staring at them as they pass by, but Castiel couldn't care less. As he sits with his family and watches as yet another one of his favorite moments is captured by one of his favorite things, all he can do is wonder just how he got so lucky.

* * *

Later that day, Joelle naps in the playpen that's been added to the game room as her fathers paste one more photostrip up on the wall. The four frames make for a fairly hilarious progression of events.

The first one is a near perfect shot, Joelle curled up in the joined arms of a grinning Dean and Castiel as she flashes her own small smile at the camera.

The second frame shows the couple grinning down at their baby girl. Joelle, however, is no longer smiling. She had been surprised by the flash of the first picture and now wears a look that's somewhere between surprised and terrified, green eyes huge as she stares at the camera.

In the third frame, Cas and Dean's smiles have faded into matching looks of concern as Joelle starts to blubber.

In the fourth shot, Joelle has just started to full on wail. Dean has her in his arms, trying to calm her down, while Cas looks on, clearly concerned but also visibly wincing at the strength of his daughter's cries.

"Just like her father," Cas tells Dean. At the other man's quizzical look he continues, "Oh, come on, do you remember how you fell out of that tree when we were, what, ten years old? You screamed so damn loud the entire neighborhood came running. God, I was scared you'd done some kind of horrible internal damage the way you were carrying on. And then your mom comes and looks you over and all you've done is sprained your ankle."

Dean groans and blushes just the tiniest bit, "This is one of those times I wish I hadn't known you as a kid, babe."

Castiel laughs before wrapping his arms around his husband's shoulders, "No you don't."

Dean's hands automatically go to Cas' waist and he pulls him into a tight hug. He looks around, taking in the hundreds of photos of years gone by before his gaze comes to rest on their sleeping daughter. "No," he says, "I really don't"

It took a lot to get them here, and Dean wouldn't change a thing.


	5. Joelle's Questions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's been so long since my last update! I've been suuper busy, but I'm finally getting back into the swing of things and I've gotten my inspiration back for this fic.
> 
> Thanks to anyone who's commented. I totally appreciate all feedback, but you're all awesome just for reading :).
> 
> In regards to some questions I got regarding the last chapter, they took Joelle to the photobooth about a week and a half after she was born. Sorry for the confusion in that chapter...admittedly, it's not my best work, and I might go back and try and fix it later.
> 
> Also, in case anyone's a tiny bit confused about the timeline: Dean and Cas were 25 when they reconnected, they're 31 in chapter 1, 32 in chapters 2 and 3, 34 in chapter 4, and 39 in this chapter.
> 
> Thanks for reading, and hope you all enjoy!

“Papa?”

Castiel puts the last of the dishes in the drying rack and tries to pinpoint where his daughter’s voice just came from.  “Yeah, baby?” he calls out.

“Papa,” she says again, and her voice is definitely coming from the game room, “Come _here_!”

Castiel rolls his eyes; neither he nor Dean knows exactly when this bossy phase started, and it would be irritating if it wasn’t so adorable.

Sure enough, when Cas reaches the door of the spare room, she’s standing there, hands on her hips, with a pretty good imitation of her Uncle Sammy’s trademark bitchface.  As serious as she looks, Cas can’t help but smile at his daughter, and the swell of affection that he feels when she grins back is overwhelming.  She holds her arms out, demanding to be picked up.  Castiel, as always, obliges.

“What did you need?” he asks her.

She’s distracted for a second, staring at all the photostrips up on the walls (and Cas is once again glad that he and Dean decided to paste the raunchier pictures all the way up by the ceiling), before she remembers what she needed him for.

She shifts in his arms, her green eyes locking on his. “I wanted to ask you a question,” she informs him.

“And what’s that?”

She points at one of the photostrips up on the wall, “Who’s that?”

Castiel moves her closer so that she can point out the specific photo she’s looking at.  It’s an old one, taken when he and Dean were probably around 12, their arms slung around an 8-year-old Sam’s skinny shoulders.  Sam’s wearing a freshly stained baseball uniform, so Cas guesses this must have been taken after one of his little league games.  Dean never missed any, so Cas didn’t either.

In the first frame, they’ve all got their arms around one another.  Dean staring proudly down at his brother and Castiel’s eyes on Dean; Sam’s completely unaware, flashing a wide grin at the camera.

The second photo has them all sticking their tongues out, Dean crossing his eyes and Sam throwing up bunny ears behind the two older boys.

Cas can’t help but chuckle at the third frame, which shows Sam practically in his lap.  He remembers this one now.  Dean had suddenly turned and made as if to lick his little brother, and Castiel doesn’t think he’s ever seen Sam move faster in his entire life.

The last photo has Dean grinning triumphantly at Sam, Sam flashing a pretty lethal bitchface, and Cas hunched over mid-laugh.  He remembers thinking he would never be able to stop.

A tiny hand on his face pulls Castiel out of his reverie.

“Papaaa,” Joelle whines, “Who _is_ that?”

“Sorry, baby,” Castiel tells her, shifting her around in his arms.  She’s getting heavy, and seeing his little girl grow up is at once heartwarming and a little bittersweet.  He clears his throat, and points to himself in the photo.

“That’s me,” he shifts his finger over to Dean, “That’s Daddy, and that,” he moves his finger over to the younger Winchester, “is your Uncle Sam.”

Joelle turns around to frown at him, “That’s not Uncle Sam!  Uncle Sam is a giant…and he has _girl_ _hair_!!”

Castiel laughs so hard he has to set his daughter back down on the ground.

 

* * *

 

Dean comes home from grocery shopping an hour later to find his daughter and husband standing in front of the photobooth pictures from their wedding.

“Hi, Daddy!” Joelle calls when he reaches the doorway of the game room.

“Hey, sweetheart.” Dean walks in and Cas hands him their daughter, simultaneously claiming his lips in a quick kiss.

“Hello, Dean.”

“Hey, babe.” Dean smiles at his husband before turning his attention to the child in his arms, “What’ve you two been up to?”

“Papa was showing me aaaallll the pictures!” Joelle tells him. “We saw Grandma and Grandpa and Uncle Sammy and Uncle Gabe, and…”

Dean raises an eyebrow at Cas as their daughter continues to babble.  The other man just shrugs as if to say _what can you do_.  Dean smiles at him and they hold each other’s gaze until Joelle realizes they’re not paying attention.

“Daddy!” she chastises, poking Dean in the nose.  He goes cross-eyed and pretends to bite at her finger, absolutely loving the tiny peals of laughter his actions cause.

When she finally settles back down, she points to one of the photos on the wall.  “Daddy,” she says, “Who’s that?”

Dean’s throat tightens a tiny bit when he sees who she’s pointing at.  He’s not sure what to say for a minute, looking to Cas, who nods encouragingly.

“Well, sweetheart,” he says, “That’s your Aunt Ellen and your Auntie Jo.  They d-…they passed away a little while before you were born.”

He has to stop talking then, it’s been almost six years, but it’s still hard to believe those two are gone.  They had stayed late at the Roadhouse one night to close up, when some crazy had wandered in and attacked Jo.  Ellen, strong woman that she was, had immediately jumped in to protect her daughter.  Unfortunately, neither of made it out of that fight.

Castiel seems to understand that Dean’s done talking for now and takes over.  “That’s who you’re named after, baby,” he tells Joelle.

They’re daughter’s eyes widen, but she doesn’t say anything, seeming to sense the mood of the moment.  Castiel wraps his arm around Dean’s waist, allowing the other man to rest his head on his shoulder.  The three of them stand just like that, until a snuffling noise comes from the baby monitor tucked into Cas’s jeans pocket.

“Jimmy’s awake!” Joelle cries.

 

* * *

 

James Robert Novak-Winchester joined their family two and a half weeks ago, and his entrance into this world was a bit of an emotional whirlwind.

It had all started around a year ago, when Joelle had gone off to preschool and Dean and Cas had decided they wanted another kid in the house.  They had gathered all of their friends for a barbeque one night and told them of their decision, but they still hadn’t determined how to go about it this time around.  After the party, Pamela had approached them.  Over the years, they had stayed in touch with her, even after she and Jesse had called off their engagement.

She lived down in San Diego, so it had been a while since the last time they’d seen her, and something was clearly wrong.  She looked…more fragile somehow, although her eyes were just as bright with life as they’d always been.

“Congratulations, guys,” she had said, pausing to chew her lip before continuing, “Look, um, I know you guys are talking about how to have this one and, well, I was hoping maybe I could help you out.”

The two men had immediately declined, thanking her profusely but saying how they couldn’t do that to her.  Pam was adventurous and free-spirited, neither one of them had wanted to hold her back by asking her to carry their child.

Pam had just laughed when they explained their reasoning, but the sound had been hollow, “I wouldn’t entirely be doing it for you,” she had confessed.  When both men only looked at her, puzzled, she pressed on. “I’m…dying,” she told them, avoiding their gazes and huffing out another broken laugh, “Brain tumor.  Inoperable.  They say I’ve got a little under a year.  And all I can think is how I’m not going to leave any part of me behind.  I don’t have any family, I don’t even have a goddamned pet, and I just…I want to leave my mark on this earth, you know?”  Dean and Cas had immediately wrapped their arms around her at that point, and, with one look shared over the top of her head, they knew they were going to say yes.

It had been surprisingly simple after that.  They’d gone to the fertility specialist and explained their plan (Cas was to be the father this time, it was only fair), and within two months, Pamela was pregnant.

She’d moved in with them for the duration of her pregnancy, and they were happy to help take care of her, even as it hurt to see their friend get so sick.  She took it like a champ, though, even when she lost her vision towards the end.

When Jimmy was born, the two men had made sure the baby was handed straight into her waiting arms.  She’d been so frail at that point, but the most incredible smile had broken out on her face.

“I don’t even need to see him to know he’s gorgeous,” she told the couple, “Bet he’s got big blue eyes just like his Papa, doesn’t he?”

Cas hadn’t been able to speak past his tears, so Dean had told her yes, going on to describe the child for her as best he could.

“He’s…he’s amazing Pam,” he’d said, “Big baby blues just like Cas, and way more hair than I’ve ever seen on a kid.  And I think he’s got your nose.”

Castiel had finally managed to find his voice then, “What are we gonna call him, Pam?”

Pamela had turned her unseeing gaze to the bundle in her arms, contemplating until the name seemed to just come to her.  “James,” she had told them.  “Call him James.

 

* * *

 

Pamela’s health had taken a turn for the worst after Jimmy was born; she had slipped into a coma after a few days and finally succumbed to the tumor a week later.

It’s been a tough couple of weeks for Dean and Cas, but every time they look down at their little boy and see their friend in the shape of his nose, or the color of his curls, they know that she’ll always be with them.

Even though she hadn’t been able to leave the hospital after the birth, a photo of her is pasted up on the wall of the game room.  In it, she sits in her hospital bed, Dean on one side, Cas on the other, and a tiny baby Jimmy in her arms.

\---

“Can we go see him?” Joelle’s asking now.  She’s been fascinated with her little brother ever since they brought him home.  If anything, her enthusiasm for their family’s new addition has helped to get Dean and Castiel through all the tough stuff.

Both men nod and Dean sets her down on the ground.  She moves to run out of the room but, after a stern look from Cas, begins to tiptoe down the hallway instead.

Cas takes the moment to gather his husband into his arms.  Dean tucks his head into the crook of Castiel’s shoulder and they just stand for a few moments.  Eventually, Dean pulls back, hands on his husband’s hips.

“Thanks,” he says, voice just a little rougher than normal, eyes just a little sadder.

“Anytime.”  Cas leans in and kisses the other man softly before pulling away to follow their daughter.

 

* * *

 

They find her by the side of the crib, speaking softly to her newborn little brother.

“…and they said I’m named after Aunt Ellen and Auntie Jo.  Daddy says they’re gone, and that’s why I never met ‘em, but I bet they were awesome.  They’re in a lot of the photos that Papa and Daddy have, which means they’re special.  I’m in even more of the photos cos I’m extra special!  But don’t worry, Jimmy, you’re gonna be in lots of them too, cos we’re a family.  Even though Papa says we have different Mommas, Daddy always says ‘Family don’t end with blood.’  I don’t know what that means, but I think it’s that you’re my little brother and that makes us family.  No matter what, okay?”

Cas and Dean stand behind her as she rambles on to her little brother, both shocked by how much of each other they see in her.  Dean’s so reminded of Castiel when he was younger, always wise beyond his years.  Castiel sees that trademark Winchester loyalty and just how much Dean loves his family; he’s happy that trait seems to have been passed on to their child.

“Daddy! Papa!” Joelle says, turning to her fathers, “Can we take Jimmy to go get pictures now? Can we please??”

Castiel nods, it’s about time anyways.  So Dean kneels down next to their daughter, “Okay, Joey, we’re gonna go.  How ‘bout you go pick out something for your brother to wear?”

40 minutes (and five outfit changes) later, they’re out the door.

 

* * *

 

At the end of the day, a new photostrip decorates the game room wall.  It’s a little bit crooked, with a bit of paste smeared by a tiny hand.  The kids are both asleep, so Dean and Cas take the time to admire the photos they had taken earlier.

In the first one, Joelle’s sits in the middle, perched on her fathers’ laps as they help her to hold Jimmy on her own.  Cas and Dean wear matching looks of worry as their five-year-old holds tight to their newborn.  Joelle’s beaming up at the camera while Jimmy, ever the calm baby, sleeps on, completely unaware.

The second shot has Dean and Castiel more relaxed.  Dean has Jimmy in his arms, and Cas has Joelle.  Cas is resting his chin on his daughter’s head as she stares up at him, the look on her face clearly reading _Papa, I am not amused_.Dean holds Jimmy up for the camera, and the blue of his eyes shines out even from the tiny photostrip.

In the third frame, Joelle, Cas, and Dean all have their tongues sticking out.  Jimmy’s blowing a spit bubble.

They had shuffled again for the last picture, so Dean’s got Joelle on his lap and Castiel is cradling Jimmy in his arms.  All of them, even Jimmy, are smiling at the camera.

Looking at it now, Dean and Cas are unknowingly thinking the same thing.

Whatever it took to get to this point, the ups and downs, the gains and losses, their family is _perfect_. 


	6. Their Memories

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So here's the next chapter for you all. Sorry for how long it took to update, the next few chapters should take a lot less time (hopefully). This one's a little bit different from the others...hope you all like it!

With two quickly growing kids, Dean and Castiel suddenly find that they have a lot less time on their hands than they used to.  Over the years there are enough ballet rehearsals and recitals, little league games and practices, playdates, birthday parties, and parent-teacher conferences to keep the whole family occupied.  Still, as time goes on, they always take time to walk into the game room and look over the photos that tell the story of their lives.

 

* * *

 

Sometimes it’s times of calm that draw them into the room.

Cas gets home from work one night, a few months after bringing Jimmy home, to find his house unusually quiet.  He stands in the entry for a moment, confused, before he remembers that Dean was taking the kids over to his parent’s house for the night.  John and Mary can’t get enough of their grandchildren, and Dean and Cas are always happy for a bit of a break.  Slipping off his trenchcoat and loosening his tie, Castiel wanders over to the spare room.  When he gets inside and flips on the light, he finds himself looking at the first photostrip he and Dean had ever taken, and is suddenly overcome with a wave of warmth and nostalgia.

The photos are black and white, long faded to shades of grey, but he can still clearly make out himself and his husband as nine year old boys.

The entire strip is just Dean making ridiculous faces and Castiel sitting next to him with wide eyes, head tilted in confusion.  He remembers being dazed by the camera flashes, blinking away the spots they seemed to leave behind on his eyelids.

A second strip is pasted just below the first, as it was taken only a few minutes later.  When Dean had seen the first set of photos, he’d immediately dragged his friend back into the booth and explained that they had to retake them.  “It’s a _photobooth_ , Cas,” Castiel remembers him explaining, “You gotta do something different for every picture.  Like make a funny face or something!”

Cas had still been thoroughly unsure of what to do, but Dean hadn’t been about to let him off the hook.  The first photo shows Dean with his hands on Castiel’s cheeks, squishing them and making the other boy look like he had fish lips.  He’d caught on after that, following Dean’s lead and sticking his tongue out in the second picture.  In the third frame, he’d been brave enough to reach over and pull Dean’s slightly too-big ears out from his head, huge grin on his face.  The fourth photo shows Dean and Cas with matching smiles, Dean’s arm slung around Castiel’s shoulders.

Castiel is still staring at the photostrip, tracing his fingers lightly over smiling faces, when he hears footsteps coming down the hallway.

“Hey, babe,” Dean says, sliding an arm around Cas’s waist and leaning in to kiss his cheek, “What are you up to?”

Cas leans into his husband’s embrace with a soft smile. “Just…remembering,” he says.

“Oh yeah?” Dean says, eyes on the photostrip now.  “Well I seem to remember you being a very odd kid, Cas-tee -el,” he teases, skewing the name just as he used to when they were younger, “Good thing you had me to show you the ropes, huh?”

Cas turns then to look at his husband.  When the other man looks back and him and his teasing smile softens, he knows that Dean understands just how true those words are.  It may have taken them decades to get to where they are now, but Dean had saved Castiel the very first day they met.  No judgment, no teasing, just a wide smile and a hand held out to the weird kid wearing a trenchcoat on the playground.  Dean’s friendship had meant so much to Castiel during their childhood.  It still does.

“Yes,” he says now, kissing the taller man softly, tenderly, “Good thing I did.”

 

* * *

 

Sometimes the photos make them smile in times of chaos.

Dean’s pacing the space that has slowly turned from a game room into their children’s play room, a crying three year old in his arms.  He can just barely hear Cas’s deep voice coming from the next room.  Everything had been fine a few minutes ago, until Joelle had discovered her little brother coloring on one of her favorite dresses and had yelled at him pretty harshly (Dean’s guessing she may have gotten just a little bit of his temper).  Now, he was trying to calm Jimmy, while his husband explained the concept of forgiveness to their daughter.  He bounces the little boy gently in his arms, relieved when his wailing dissolves into quiet blubbering, tiny face buried in the fabric of his father’s t-shirt.  As he murmurs soothing words, Dean’s eyes lock onto one of the many photostrips on the walls.

He remembers this one pretty vividly.  It had been right after Cas’s dad had left, and Dean had found the other boy crying on his front steps.  At eleven years old, Dean had had no clue what to do, and his first solution was to take Cas for ice cream.  As they were walking to the shop, he had spotted a photobooth and got an even better idea.  He’d dragged Cas inside, and knew he’d gotten it right when the other boy’s eyes had lit up, even through the tears. 

In the first photo, he’s hugging Cas tightly.  He remembers his friend freezing up in his arms before hugging back even harder.  In the second frame, Dean’s pulled back and is wiping the tears from Cas’s eyes.  The third photo captures what Dean thinks was probably the first time they’d had themselves a “moment” inside one of the boxy contraptions.  The two of them sit, arms still wrapped around each other, gazes locked.  Dean’s eye’s are big and worried, but there’s a tiny smile beginning to creep onto Cas’s face.  By the time the final photo was taken, the two boys were turned to face the camera, heads knocking together, small smiles on both their faces.

Dean’s pulled out of his memories when Jimmy shifts in his arms, leaning back to look up at his dad.  Big teary blue eyes remind Dean so much of Castiel all those years ago, though he knows that he and Cas will always be there for their kids.  Still, he uses his thumb to wipe the tears from his sons face.

“You’re gonna be okay, buddy,” he tells him, before he smiles and quirks an eyebrow, “But maybe stick to coloring on paper for now, okay?”

He’s pleased when he’s rewarded with a tiny smile and a nod from the toddler in his arms.

A throat clears behind him, and he turns to see Cas leading Joelle in by the hand.  “Jimmy,” Cas says, “Your sister has something she’d like to say to you.”

Dean sets Jimmy on the ground and Joelle walks over to him.

“I’m sorry I yelled at you,” she tells him, “I was just mad cos that’s my favorite dress but…I forgive you, cos you’re my brother and I love you.”

Jimmy waddles over and hugs his sister tight around her middle.  “I love you too, Joey,” he says, “Sorry I drawed on your stuff.”

Dean grins at Cas over the children’s heads.  They might not always get it right the first time, but their kids are totally awesome.

 

* * *

 

Sometimes the kids have questions.

By the time Joelle’s eleven and Jimmy’s six, they’ve completely taken over the game room.  The pool table has even been moved to the garage to make room for all of the toys they’ve accumulated over the years.  Sometime’s Dean or Cas will peek into the room, see the mess of children’s things, and think that maybe they’ve spoiled the kids just a bit, but they know the little ones are worth it.

In the far left corner of the room, sitting against the wall where Dean proposed to Cas all those years ago, there’s a giant toy chest, filled with everything from building blocks to baby dolls.  Its contents are always spilling out onto the floor, no matter how many times they try and clean the room up.  Next to the chest is a small wardrobe where the kids keep their dress-up clothes.  Because they’re Dean’s kids, the drawers hold just as many superhero suits as they do princess dresses (there’s even one adult-sized princess outfit in there for the times when Joelle decides to grab one of her fathers by the hand and invite him to a tea party – she really does have them wrapped around her finger).

Across the room, there’s a toy kitchen set where Jimmy spends most of his time.  He’ll spend an hour quietly playing in there before wandering out of the room and presenting one of his dads or his sister with one of his creations.  Now that he’s older, Dean’s been letting him help out in the real kitchen, but every once in a while they’ll still find a plastic-food masterpiece being thrust into their hands.

There’s also a tall bookshelf along the wall closest to the hallway.  Joelle’s fascination with fairytales had evolved into a love of fantasy and books in general.  Cas has recently taken to reading her some of his favorites, so they’ve slowly started to fill up the shelves.  Next to the bookshelf is a small table where Joelle hosts her tea parties and Jimmy scribbles away with crayons.  Even though their fathers encourage them to play out in the backyard as much as they can, the kids end up spending a lot of their time in their play room.  Dean’s a tiny bit annoyed that they’re neglecting the pretty awesome (if he does say so himself) tree fort he built them, but Cas is always quick to remind him that he should just be grateful that their children get along so well.

One summer weekend, Dean and Cas are cleaning up from lunch while the kids hang out in the play room.  Suddenly there’s a loud chorus of “Daaaaaaaaaaaddies!!” from down the hall.  That usually spells trouble, so Dean quirks an eyebrow at his husband before they hurry down the hallway to see what’s wrong.  When they get there, though, they find Joelle and Jimmy calmly staring up at one of the walls,  Joelle holding out a hand to steady her brother as he stands up on a chair.

“What’s up, guys?”  Dean asks, looking at Cas to see if he has any better idea.  The other man just shrugs before walking over to their kids, grabbing Dean’s wrist to pull him along.

Jimmy points up at one of the photostrips on the wall. “How come there’s some missing?” he asks, with a head tilt that’s just so _Cas_ that Dean can’t help but smile.

“What do you mean, buddy?”

“Well you’re really young in that one,” Joelle explains for her brother, “but then in the one after it you’re a lot older.  Why are there some missing in between?  Did you lose them?”

Cas and Dean exchange a look of sudden understanding before they turn to look up at the photostrips in question.  The first one had been taken when the two of them were seventeen, the last time they’d seen each other outside of school before they graduated and went off to college.

They hadn’t been hanging out then, having already gone their separate ways, but they’d run into each other while Christmas shopping and, when they’d walked by the photobooth, hadn’t been able to resist going in for old time’s sake. The fact that Cas had been carrying a bunch of silly Christmas hats he’d bought for Gabriel had made for some great impromptu props.

In the first shot, Cas has on a Santa hat, eyes scrunched shut in laughter as he pulls a ridiculous elf hat (complete with oversized ears) onto Dean’s head; Dean is not amused.  He got his revenge in the second frame, though, reaching over to tug Castiel’s hat down over his eyes.  The camera captured the moment perfectly: all of Cas’s face covered except for the surprised “o” of his mouth, Dean smirking triumphantly next to him.  The next photo shows both boys turned to each other, Cas pushing the Santa hat up to look at Dean.  Dean’s smirk has softened into a smile as he looks at Cas, one eyebrow still cocked in victory.  Castiel looks like he’s attempting to glare at the other boy, but there’s a hint of a smile on his face as well.  The final frame, the last picture taken of the pair until their reunion, is pure joy.  Dean had suddenly burst out into laughter at the look on his friend’s face, and Cas remembers how that laughter had been so infectious.  In the picture, both boys have pulled their hats off and their hair (especially Castiel’s) is a _mess_.  They could care less, however, as they lean into each other, faces contorted with unstoppable laughter.  Dean looks over at his husband and knows he’s remembering the same thing: how they had sat there laughing until tears were rolling down their faces before they stepped out of the booth and went their separate ways.  He used to wish that they hadn’t parted that day, but now he’s just glad to have found Cas again.  He wraps an arm around the other man’s shoulders and pulls him in for a quick kiss before turning to explain to their kids.

 

* * *

 

Later, after Joelle and Jimmy are tucked safely into their beds, Cas and Dean make their way back to the room to stare at the photostrip that comes next.

In it, Dean and Cas are both noticeably more grown up than they were in the last photo, their twenty-five year old, filled out frames barely fitting in the small space.  Clearly, neither of them noticed, as they had been too happy to be back together again.

Both of them are turned into each other in the first shot, Castiel almost in Dean’s lap as he leans in toward the other man.  The second photo captures one of the best moments of both men’s lives, the moment that truly cemented the start of their lives together.  They’re kissing, arms wrapped around each other tight.  It’s a soft, chaste thing, but the meaningfulness of the moment seems to shine out from the tiny frame.  In the third shot, they’ve pulled back, only slightly, to stare into each other’s eyes, wearing matching looks of shock and happiness.  They didn’t turn back toward the camera until the final frame, huge smiles on their faces, arms still wrapped around one another as if they’ll never let go.

Cas wraps his arms around Dean now in a similarly tight embrace, moving his lips to Dean’s ear.

“I’m so glad we found each other again,” he says, echoing Dean’s thoughts from earlier.

Dean just smiles and turns to press a kiss to his husband’s temple.

 

* * *

 

Sometimes, the pictures are catalyst for celebration.

The years go by so quickly.  Before they know it, Dean and Cas are fifty and it’s their eighteenth wedding anniversary.  They don’t have anything that special planned, busy as they are with work and the kids, but they decide to take the night off of everything else in order to spend time with each other.

Dean comes home from work to find a kid-free house – Sam and Jess having taken Joelle and Jimmy for the night, and takes a moment to enjoy the peace and quiet.  He knows Cas won’t be back for another hour, so he takes his time showering and getting ready for a nice dinner out.  Cas still isn’t home when he’s done, so he takes the time to wander into the spare room and look over the history of their relationship.

The room has shifted yet again over the years, as their kids have grown up.  The toy box and wardrobe have been replaced with a drum set (Joelle’s – although Jimmy likes to mess around sometimes too), the play kitchen with a couch, TV, and Xbox.  The bookshelf remains, but there’s an adult size desk set up next to it now, instead of a tiny kid’s table.  The kids do still spend a good amount of time in here, but now they also spend time holed up in their rooms or out with their friends.  Dean starts feeling a bit nostalgic as he looks around, realizing just how grown up his babies are.  He wanders the edges of the room, looking at the pictures of his family as it has evolved, fingers tracing over glossy paper and old memories.  He goes backwards chronologically, eventually getting to the days when it was just him and Castiel.

He’s gotten pretty far back when he hears the front door open.

His favorite deep voice floats down the hallway, “Dean?”

“In the kids’ room!” he calls out, and is suddenly hit with yet another memory, from nearly twenty years before, proposing to Cas in this very spot.  His eyes settle on that particular photo as the memory floods back in.

He’s just reaching out a hand to touch it when arms snake around his waist from behind.

“Hello, Dean,” Cas murmurs into his shoulder, “Happy Anniversary.”

Dean turns in his husband’s arms, arms coming up to the other man’s shoulders before he pulls him in for a kiss.  It’s slow and warm and wonderful.  Too often lately, their kisses have been rushed, hurried pecks as one of them runs out the door, or soft touches of lips before they both fall asleep, exhausted from a long day.

This kiss, though, feels like they have all the time in the world.  In fact, it seems like hours later when they finally pull apart, only to wrap around each other again in a tight hug.

“Happy Anniversary,” Dean says, “Love you, babe.”

Cas chuckles, turning Dean around and hooking his chin over the other man’s shoulder as they both stare up at a wall of their own faces.

“I love you too, Dean,” he says, “Now, what were you looking at?”

They stand in front of the wall, arms never leaving each other, laughing and smiling and pointing out different photos to each other.

When they move to the next wall over, they both simultaneously reach up, fingers meeting on the same photostrip.

It was taken on their fifth anniversary, back when they were still dating.  They had gone out to a fancy dinner, and ended up crammed inside yet another photobooth, formal suits and all.  Castiel chuckles as he looks at the photos and remembers that night.

The first of the series is fairly tame for them: Cas is sticking his tongue out as far as he can while Dean’s got his eyes crossed in that crazy way of his, one eyebrow shooting up toward his hairline.  The next photo shows Cas pressing what he knew was a totally sloppy kiss on Dean’s cheek.  His now-husband has an exasperated _oh god this is so cheesy…but I love it_ expression on his face, crossing his arms and rolling his eyes affectionately.  Because he’s Dean, he manages to get Cas back in the third frame, licking up the side of his boyfriend’s stubbly face.  Cas is clearly mid laugh in the photo, the sides of his nose crinkled up in that way Dean always loves.  In the final shot, both men are laughing, Dean’s head thrown back, Castiel’s eyes all scrunched up, wide, gummy smile on his face.  They look so happy...and so _young._

“That was a long time ago,” Cas says now, tightening his grip around his husband.

“Yeah, Cas,” Dean huffs, “We’re old now.  God, we’re _fifty_.”

Cas chuckles, “That’s not what I meant, Dean.  This was, what? Our fifth year together?” Dean nods, and he continues, “Wow, we were only thirty here.”

“Yeah, babe. Damn that was twenty years ago.  Twenty _years_.  That means – shit, that means we’ve been together twenty-five years now.  A quarter of a century and you’re not sick of me yet,” Dean says, turning to look at Cas.

The other man just smiles and holds up a hand, index finger and thumb an inch apart.  “Maybe just a little bit,” he teases, “but that might be because you’re just so _old_.”  He brings a hand up to his chest in mock horror and Dean sticks his tongue out at him.

“Yeah, well, this old man is taking you out for a nice dinner, what do you say?” Dean says with a smile.

Cas smiles back before taking a peek at his watch, eyes going wide a bit in surprise.  “I say we’re going to be very, very late,” he says, turning his wrist so that Dean can see, “It’s already nine.  Apparently we’ve been in here for hours.”

Dean’s disappointed for all of a second before realizing that he’s gotten exactly what he wanted, some relaxing, unhurried time spend with his husband, the love of his life and his partner of twenty-five years.  He smiles, “Well then, how about we get some burgers and get in our pajamas.  I’m sure we’ll be able to find something to do after that.”  He punctuates that last bit with a wiggle of his eyebrows that makes Cas roll his eyes.

“Sounds like a plan, old man,” Cas deadpans.

Old men that they may be, the night ends up being their best anniversary yet.

 

* * *

 

Always, the photos remind them what’s important.

The past few months have been tough on both of them.  Joelle’s been accepted to NYU, and in less than a year will be leaving to move across the country.  Both men are dreading the day when their baby girl leaves home, and they’re not exactly handling it well.  Castiel has thrown himself into work.  He recently got promoted, and has been spending more and more time at the office.  Dean, on the other hand, has been spending more and more time at home.  He’s having major flashbacks to when Sammy left for school, except this time he can’t just move to follow.  His little girl is almost an adult, and he’s going to have to deal with that, but he can’t right now.  So instead he spends as much time as he can at home, enjoying having his kids so close.

They manage to keep it together for a while, but when Jimmy asks to go to a sleep-away summer camp for the summer, everything tumbles down.

Castiel tells him of course he can, and Dean is furious.  He starts to feel as if his entire family is trying to leave him, just like Sammy did.  Cas, on the other hand, just wants his kids to have what makes them happy, and he doesn’t understand why Dean would get in the way of that.  It turns into an all out screaming fight (and thank god the kids are both over at their grandparents’ tonight), Cas accusing Dean of smothering their children, Dean yelling at Cas for never being home.  And yeah, they’ve fought before, and yeah it’s gotten this bad occasionally, but then Cas does something completely unprecedented.  He walks out, mumbling something about how he can’t do this and he’s going to stay at Sam and Jess’s for the night.

Dean watches his husband walk out the door, and feels his heart shatter in his chest.  It’s the final piece in the puzzle of people leaving Dean, and he just can’t take it.  He sinks to the floor and lets the tears fall.

 

* * *

 

When he finally picks himself up, it’s late, but he can’t bring himself to go to bed alone, so he starts tidying up the house.

He leaves the former spare room for last, and when he walks in he finds that he can’t take his eyes off of the walls.  It only takes five minutes of walking around the room, staring up at all the photos, when he realizes how stupid this is.  Castiel is his husband, the love of his life, and yeah there’s a lot going on, but this is ridiculous.  Suddenly, he knows what he has to do.  He checks his wallet, relieved to find a crisp five dollar bill inside, before grabbing his keys and his jacket and running out the door.

 

* * *

 

When they finally fall into bed – together – at 3am the next morning, there’s a new photostrip on their nightstand, just waiting to be pasted up on the wall.

The four shots are simple, all the same, but important nonetheless.  In them, both men sit with red eyes and kiss-swollen lips, arms wrapped around each other as tight as they’ll go.  They had sat like that for an hour in the photobooth after talking everything out, murmuring forgive mes and I’m sorrys and I love yous.  As they fall asleep, Cas rolls over to pull Dean close to his chest and whispers in his ear.

“Know this, Dean Winchester, you stubborn, insecure man.  Even if I’m mad, even if I need some space, know that I love you, with all of my being, always have and always will.”

Dean clutches the other man close, burying his face in his chest and letting his t-shirt soak up his tears.  He can’t speak past the lump that’s seems to have formed in his throat, but Cas seems to understand how much he loves him anyway.

It’s not all suddenly fixed, not by a long shot, but in that moment, they know that they’ll get there. 

And whenever they have trouble remembering, all they have to do is walk past a particular photostrip.


	7. Joelle's Contribution

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So here's the next chapter for you all! This one's a little bit different, in that it focuses more on the kids. Enjoy :).

Joelle walks around the photo room – as it’s come to be called now – occasionally reaching up to trace her fingers lightly over a particular photo.  She likes to do this sometimes when she has a moment, and she knows it’ll be a while before she’s back here, so she’s savoring this time.  She loves how every photo in here is special, that they all come together to tell a story: her fathers’ story, with her own eventually woven in.  Not every photo has them smiling, and not every memory is happy, but each and every image is meaningful in some way.  She makes her way to the most recent rows of photos and finally looks down at the small stack of photostrips she holds in her hand.  To her, these are the most meaningful, the most significant.  They are the last photos before she takes off on a whole new adventure, and she’s excited to add them to her story.

As she sets about her work, the first strip makes her smile wide.  The photos are of her, her dads, and her brother, and they were taken on the day of her high school graduation – just three short months ago.

The first picture is almost comical, three adults and one gangly teenager trying to cram themselves into the small space.  Her Dad’s crammed against one side, with Papa just barely fitting next to him on the bench.  Joelle – still wearing her cap and gown from the ceremony earlier that day – is perched on Dean’s lap, and Jimmy’s half on Cas’s and half hanging out of the booth.  They’re all smiling genuinely, but Joelle can also spot the slight discomfort at being wedged in the small space.  Still, it’s a heartwarming picture, her fathers grinning proudly, arms wrapped tightly around her and her brother.

The second shot is intentionally funny.  Joelle had leaned way in towards the camera, and Jimmy had joined her, both hanging off their fathers’ laps.  It’s clear in the photo that they were competing to see who could get more of their face in the frame.  In the end, it was a tie, and the picture features one blue eye and one green, blond and brown hair weaving together as the siblings squish their cheeks together.  Joelle’s sticking her tongue out, while Jimmy crosses his eyes bizarrely (and Joelle doesn’t know it, but somewhere on one of the walls behind her, there’s a photostrip of a young Cas and Dean, the two of them pulling the exact same faces).

The third frame is hilarious.  Dean and Cas had decided to rein in their children by ticking them, matching evil grins on their faces.  Joelle’s hair is everywhere as she squirms, trying to escape her Dad’s hands to no avail.  Jimmy had a smarter tactic; the boy is a blur of motion and lanky teenage limbs as he dives out of the booth.

The fourth photo is sweet.  Joelle had scooted over so that she now sits half on Dean’s lap and half on Cas’s, with her arms thrown around both of their necks.  Their three faces are squeezed close together, leaning towards the camera with bright, matching smiles.  There’s no doubting the similarities between Joelle and her Dad (they have the same brightly colored eyes, the same light hair and freckles), but it’s also clear that Joelle is Cas’s kid (she scrunches her nose up just like him when she smiles).

Joelle loves that fourth photo more than any of the professional graduation ones that now sit around the house and on the mantle in the living room, because it’s her and her dads – and because it reminds her of the moments that came after.  The second after the photobooth flash had gone off, both Dad and Papa – using their weird married people mild-meld thing – had turned and smacked big, wet kisses to her cheeks as they wrapped their arms around her.  Not one for being left out, Jimmy had jumped back into the booth and added to the dog pile.  When Joelle had finally escaped three pairs of arms and her fathers’ incessant kisses, she had stumbled out of the booth and immediately doubled over in laughter.  The rest of her family had eventually disentangled themselves and joined her, and the four of them hadn’t stopped laughing until they were back in the car.

She actually laughs out loud at the memory.  _God_ , that had been a great day.  Dad, Uncle Sammy, Johnny, Grandpa and Uncle Gabe had cheered so loudly when she walked up to get her diploma, Papa and Jimmy clearly embarrassed next to them, and Grandma and Auntie Jess snapping endless amounts pictures.  After a quick detour to the mall photobooth, they had all reconvened for a celebration barbeque.

* * *

It had been a typical Novak-Winchester party, full of laughter and family and rowdy as all get out.  She had gone upstairs just for a moment to set her cap and gown on her bed, and when she came back down her whole family was gathered out in the backyard waiting for her.  She had barely taken three steps out the back door before she was scooped up into someone’s arms and passed between all the members of her crazy family.  Somehow, she eventually ended up perched on Johnny and Uncle Sammy’s shoulders.

“Holy shit!” she had cried, “It’s _high_ up here!”

“Language, Joey,” her dads had warned from the ground, though there wasn’t much heat to it (secretly Dean was proud that his daughter swore like a Winchester).

When Moose and Mooseling, as Uncle Gabriel called them, had finally set her back down on the ground, there had been a barbeque feast fit to feed an army.  Dinner was loud, as always, everyone shouting over each other and across the table as they carried on their separate conversations.  Joelle had taken a second in the middle of all the chaos to savor it all.  She was headed for New York, all the way across the country, and knew that she wouldn’t be able to make as many of these family events as she was used to.

Before she could get too deep in thought, Grandma and Aunt Jess had run into the kitchen and brought out dessert.

“Pie!” Dean and his kids had exclaimed simultaneously, and Cas had simple rolled his eyes, smiling fondly at his family.

* * *

Joelle’s just sticking up the last photostrip now, still reminiscing about the four different kinds of pie her aunt and grandmother had cooked for the celebration when her brother’s voice pulls her back to the present.

“Joey?” Jimmy says tentatively from the doorway.

“What’s up, kiddo?”

He wanders into the room to stand next to her.  “What are you doing?” he asks eyeing her recent handiwork where it’s pasted up on the wall.

“Just making my own little contribution to the wall,” Joelle says with a smile, “What do you think?”

Jimmy takes a closer look, standing up on his tiptoes (he has yet to reach his growth spurt) and squinting just like Papa.

“Why are they all of your face?” he asks, turning back to his sister.

Joelle grins even wider, proud of her clever idea.  She had gone to the mall four separate times over the summer to take some pretty hilarious (if she did say so herself) photostrips, all featuring just her, pulling faces and striking ridiculous poses for the camera.

“So you guys don’t forget me while I’m at school!” she explains now.

“Oh,” Jimmy says, turning back to look at the photos.

They stand there together for a while in silence before Jimmy speaks again, even quieter than is usual for him.

“You are gonna come back though, right?” he asks, and the doubt in his voice has Joelle moving quickly forward to wrap an arm around her little brother’s shoulders.

“Of course I am,” she promises, squeezing him just a little bit before letting go and giving him a tiny shove and a smirk, “Someone’s gotta kick your ass at Halo, right?”

Jimmy smiles brightly for a moment before he surprises her by surging forward and wrapping his arms around her waist.  Joelle smiles and closes her eyes as she pulls her brother into a tight hug.  She’s going to miss the little guy, if she’s honest.  They may not always get along, and they definitely have their fair share of disagreements, but they’ve both adopted the most important aspect of being a Winchester – family comes first.  For all the fights she’s gotten in with Jimmy, she’s gotten in more protecting him, and she wouldn’t change that for the world.

Joelle looks up when she hears movement from the doorway to find both of her fathers standing there, arms around each other, looking a bit misty-eyed as they watch their children.

“Uh oh, Jimmy,” Joelle stage whispers, “We better go over there and hug daddies before the two of them start to cry.”

Jimmy looks up at her for a second before he lets go and turns, and both of them race toward the two men in the doorway, leaping into their waiting arms.

“Oh shuttup,” Dean mutters, just before his son slams into him.

They stand there for a minute, all together in the doorway of the room that tells the stories of their lives, before Dean finally clears his throat.

“Okay,” he says, though his arms never leave his family, “Enough of this chick-flick moment.”

Cas chuckles, “Your Dad’s right.  We should probably hit the road, guys.  Come on.”

The four of them release each other then, Jimmy, Dean, and Cas heading for the car while Joelle goes to grab the last of her bags from her room.  On her way back down the hallway, she stops once more in the doorway of the room that tells the stories of her life.

“Come on sweetheart,” her Dad says from behind her, taking her duffle and wrapping a gently arm around her shoulders, “We don’t want you to miss your flight.”

Joelle nods, taking one last look at the photo room before she walks out towards the car and into the next exciting chapter of her life.

* * *

Later that day, after their daughter’s boarded her flight to the other side of the country and their son’s headed to a friend’s house for the afternoon, Dean and Cas will wander into the photo room and spot the photostrips that Joelle added to the wall.

They’ll smile and laugh and hold each other just a little bit tighter as the look over the new additions to the wall.

And if they happen to shed a few tears in the process, well, nobody’s going to tell.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you all liked that one! Only two more chapters in this fic, which I'll get to writing as soon as I can. Thanks for reading, and feedback is always welcome :).


	8. Their Empty Nest

Castiel unlocks the door and walks into a house that suddenly feels entirely too big and empty.  The hallway is too quiet as he makes his way to the photo room, the only sound his slow footsteps.  When he gets there, he wanders around and looks at all the photos, reliving old memories in an attempt to alleviate the ache that seems to have settled in his chest.

It’s an ache that eases the minute a familiar pair of warm arms wraps around him from behind.

“You okay, babe?” Dean murmurs in his ear.

Cas turns to face the other man, noting his red-rimmed eyes and choosing to ignore them (he knew Dean had wanted some extra time in the car to compose himself), and nods, giving his husband a watery smile, “I’m okay.”

They turn to look at the photos then.  Both their gazes coming to rest on an old Halloween photostrip, back when Joelle was eleven and Jimmy was six.  She’s Batman and he’s Robin, a parallel to an old photostrip of their fathers as kids that sits a few feet higher up on the wall.

The first shot is all toothy grins and the best superhero poses they could pull off in the small space.  Joelle has her fists up, and Jimmy – small as he was back then – is actually standing on the bench of the booth, foot raised in a kick toward the camera.

Which clearly wasn’t a good idea, seeing as the second frame shows him toppled into Joelle’s lap.  She’s glaring at her little brother (looking particularly Batman-y behind her mask), whose eyes are wide with surprise where he’s sprawled across her legs.

The third picture shows the two kids laughing as Jimmy rights himself on the bench next to Joelle, and she reaches out to help him.  It’s interesting how the strip basically characterizes their whole relationship, how they can go from fighting one minute to the best of friends in the next, no grudges.  If there’s one thing they’ve learned from their dads it’s that you love your family, no matter what.

The final photo in the strip shows Joelle, eyes squinted intensely as she flings her cape out to the side.  It blocks most of Jimmy, with the exception of some messy dark hair and a pair of masked blue eyes peering out over his sister’s arm.  The last photo of Dean and Cas’s photostrip – from years and years before – is exactly the same.

“Can you believe they used to be that small?” Cas asks, pulling Dean out of his memories.

The other man shakes his head, “It’s crazy right?  They’re all grown up now – graduated, or at college, and–“ he breaks off, unable to speak around the quickly forming lump in his throat.

Castiel pulls his husband into a hug, rubbing soothing circles across his back.  It’s been a tough day for both of them.  They’d caught a break last year when Jimmy had decided he’d rather commute from home for his freshman year of college, but of course that wasn’t going to last forever.  This year, he’d decided to move into an apartment closer to campus with some of his friends.  Both Dean and Cas had been up half the night worrying about their youngest leaving home, and they’d barely been able to make it through moving him in today without falling apart.

“God, Cas,” Dean eventually says into his husband’s neck, “What are we going to do without them?”

Castiel just holds his husband that much tighter as he assures him that they’re going to be fine.  “Jimmy’s still just twenty minutes away.  And you know he’ll be home every weekend – he never did learn how to do laundry,” he says, and Dean gives a watery laugh, leaning back to look Cas in the eye.  Cas reaches up to wipe away a stray tear from the other man’s face.

“I know,” Dean says, “It’s just...it’s so weird.  The house seems too big now or something.”

“Yeah,” Cas says as he takes Dean’s hand and they continue to walk around the room, “I know what you mean.”

They wander around for a little while, occasionally pointing out certain photos to each other or commenting on one thing or another, but mostly wrapped up in their own heads.  They end up stopping again in front of one of the more recent strips on the wall.

It was taken last winter, and Jimmy and Joelle had given the strip to Dean and Cas as part of their Christmas present.

The kids had gone Christmas shopping with Sam’s son, Johnny, who’s two years older than Joelle (and almost a good foot and a half taller).  The three of them have always been close, and Cas loves how Johnny’s as fiercely protective of his younger cousins as Dean is of Sam.

On this particular trip, mid-shopping, Joelle and Jimmy had apparently decided to drag Johnny into a photobooth, and the end result was pretty great.

In the first shot, Johnny’s seated in the middle of the bench, Joelle and Jimmy crammed in on either side.  They’ve got a bag of Christmas decorations with them, sitting on Johnny’s lap, and the other two are pulling things out of it and decorating their cousin like a human Christmas tree.  Johnny seems to have given up resisting at this point, but he’s got on a bitchface that is eerily reminiscent of his father.

In the second frame, he’s fully decorated.  There are red, green, and gold lengths of tinsel draped all around him.  He’s also got ornaments hooked around each ear, and hanging from his shirtfront pockets.  Instead of a star, there’s a pair of reindeer antlers settled atop his head, bent at an odd angle where they hit the top of the booth.  The bitchface is still present, though his lips are starting to turn up at the edges.  Joelle and Jimmy sit on either side of him, wide open smiles on their faces as they point to their cousin.

Johnny retaliates in the next photo.  He had found the ends of the tinsel strands and used his gigantor arms to wrap them around Jimmy and Joelle, pulling them in towards him and tucking them roughly into his sides.  He’s clearly laughing as his cousins wear matching scowls.

By the fourth photo, they’d manage to get the tinsel wrapped around all three of them.  Johnny’s still got his arms wrapped around the other two, but now they’ve each wound an arm around him as well.  They’re all leaning into each other with huge smiles on their faces.  It’s an all around adorable picture.

It’s also weird for Dean and Cas to look at and see that their kids and their nephew are all adults by now.  Johnny’s been working for Dean at his garage for the past two years, Joelle graduated and moved to back to California – living with some friends in LA, and now Jimmy’s gone off on his own as well.

“So weird,” Dean murmurs again.

Castiel nods in agreement, “I know.”

“We could move, you know?” Dean says suddenly, “Get a smaller place down by the beach or in the country or something.

Cas just stares at him as if he just suggested selling his car or giving up pie.  “Dean, the beach would require you to wear shorts, and the countryside irritates my allergies.”

His husband flushes and rubs his neck, “It was just a suggestion.”

The other man’s surprised look softens, and he lifts a hand up to give Dean’s shoulder a reassuring squeeze.  “I know this is hard, Dean,” he says, “But it’ll get easier.  Plus, our entire _lives_ are here.  Charlie and Gilda are a half an hour away, Sam and Jess are moving into your parents’ old place, and Jimmy’s really not that far.  Not to mention, Joelle’s coming over for dinner next week.”

Dean smiles at that.  Although their daughter’s back in the same state, she’s still far enough away that she doesn’t come home as often as they’d like.  So they’ve been looking forward to this dinner for a while now, especially as Joelle had told them she’d be bringing someone.  She hadn’t specified as to who that someone was, and her fathers had been taking bets as to who it would be.  ( _“Fifty bucks says it’s a chick, Cas.” “Dean, there’s an equal chance that she’s dating a male.  Plus, we share everything; your fifty bucks is mine as well, remember?”_ ) It’s true, what Cas is saying.  Even if the house feels empty now, even if the kids are grown up and out on their own, deep down he knows this is still their home.

“Not to mention,” Cas says gently, wrapping an arm around Dean and turning him to stare at all the pictures that surround them, “There’s this room.  How could we ever leave this?”

He’s right, of course.  This room anchors them here, its walls full of memories and emotions – the stories of their lives, their family.  They could never leave this place.  And they wouldn’t have it any other way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for a bit of a short chapter. The next one will be longer, and it will also be the last. Thanks to everyone for reading! Feedback is always welcome :).


	9. Castiel's Message

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so, so sorry for the beginning of this chapter, but I promise this whole thing ends happy, okay?  
> I've added warnings for the fic as a whole, but please let me know if there need to be more.

Dean does eventually leave the house.

Cas passes away just months after his 83rd birthday.  Both of them knew it was coming, but that didn’t make it any easier.

Dean doesn’t know what happened to the photo room.  He didn’t have it in him to go back to the house alone after the funeral.  In fact, he hadn’t been back for more than a few hours at a time ever since Cas had gone into the hospital, choosing to sleep on a cot in his husband’s hospital room instead.

Joelle and her wife Tessa had asked Dean to move in with them, and he had accepted, needing desperately to be near family.  He’s been living with them ever since.  It’s not easy, being without Cas, but being around Tessa and Joelle helps some.

* * *

One morning, Dean wakes up and rolls over to check the clock on the bedside table.  He catches sight of the day’s date, and suddenly he never wants to get out of bed again.

It’s been a year.  One whole year without Cas.

A small part of him thinks it’s actually pretty damn amazing that he’s made it this long, but the rest of him just _aches_.  Aches for his husband, his best friend in the entire world, aches for Castiel.

He rolls back over and stares at the empty space next to him in bed (he still sticks to his side – old habits are hard to break), and tears fill his eyes, spilling down his cheeks.

Dean pulls the comforter up and over his head in an attempt to drown out this horrible, Cas-less world.

* * *

“Dad?”

Joelle knocks on the bedroom door, concerned.  Usually her father gets up fairly early and joins her and Tessa for breakfast.  When she had seen what day it way, she had figured he’d probably need some time to himself today, but when lunchtime had passed with no sign of him, she’d finally started to worry.

There’s no response, so she knocks again.

With a heavy sigh, Joelle turns the knob and pushes slowly into the room.  It’s dark, shades still drawn, but she can just make out the shape of a body lying under the covers on the bed.

“Daddy?” she asks, voice small, fearful of what she might find, “Dad, please tell me that you’re okay.”

At that, the lump under the blanket starts to shake, and she can’t help but let out a sigh of relief at knowing her father’s at least alive.

Joelle gingerly sits on the empty side of the bed, reaching over to pull the blankets down, revealing her father’s face.

It’s heartbreaking.  Dean’s shoulders shake as silent tears stream down his face.

“Oh, Dad,” is all Joelle says, before she more or less hauls her father into a sitting position and wraps an arm around him tight.

“I’m sorry, Joey.  So sorry,” he manages to say through the tears, “You shouldn’t have to take care of me like this.”

Joelle just holds tighter.  “It’s okay, Dad.  It’s okay,” she soothes, as tears start to stream down her own face.  She leans her head on her father’s shoulder, voice barely a whisper now, “I miss Papa too.”

* * *

They sit there for a long time, not talking, just holding on tight, until early in the evening when there’s a soft knock on the still open door.  Dean doesn’t move his head from where it’s laying in his arms, but Joelle looks up to find her brother standing in the doorway.  His eyes are red and puffy – evidently he knows what day it is too.

Slowly, he makes his way over to the bed, and Joelle shuffles herself and their father over a little bit so that Jimmy can sit on his other side.  When Dean looks up and sees his son, who looks so incredibly similar to his papa, the tears only start to flow harder, but Jimmy just wraps an arm around his dad, and he and his sister hold on tight.

 Tessa appears in the doorway then – she must have let Jimmy in – but the other woman doesn’t say a word, just goes into the kitchen and comes back with some food and warm cocoa, and Joelle loves her so much for that.

It takes almost an hour, but eventually Joelle and Jimmy get Dean to eat.  He doesn’t say anything until he finishes, and even then it’s only to tell them he’s tired.  They reluctantly scoot off the bed, and Dean lies down, pulling the covers back over his head.

When they get into the hallway, shutting the door behind them, Joelle looks over and sees that her brother’s still crying.  She pulls him into a tight hug, rubbing a hand over his back.  They may be all grown up now, middle-aged with families of their own, but Joelle will always take care of her little brother.

“It’s alright,” she reassures him, “Shhh.  It’ll be okay.  It’s just a tough day, for all of us.  He’ll be okay tomorrow.  He will.”

But Dean isn’t okay the next day, or the one after that.  When a whole week goes by without him leaving his room, only getting out of bed to use the connected bathroom and only eating when Joelle or Tessa forces him to, Joelle knows something has to be done.

Luckily, she knows just what to do.

* * *

Dean doesn’t know how much time has passed.  He knows it’s probably a few days at least, and he knows his family is concerned, but he just can’t seem to find a reason to get up.

The longing and sadness he’d managed to hold off for so long had slammed into him all at once, and he didn’t know what to do with any of it.  So far, the best solution he’s found is to just sleep, to drift into unconsciousness where the aching loneliness can’t find him.

He wakes up with a start one day when he reaches across the mattress for Cas, and his arm actually hits something for once.

Curious, he opens his eyes and finds…a book?

Dean sits up slowly, grabbing his glasses from the nightstand and pulling the mystery object into his lap.

It’s a scrapbook, the word _“Memories”_ scrawled across the front in handwriting Dean recognizes.  Handwriting that belongs to –

“Cas,” Dean gasps.

The ache easies just a tiny amount as Dean flips the front cover open and finds the very first photostrips he and Cas took when they were kids.

He always wondered what the other man had done with his halves of all the photostrips, and relief floods him when he realizes that they’re all right here, in this book.  He hadn’t realized how much he had missed being able to look at all the old photos.  And it hurts, sure, to look at these without Cas here with him, but it also makes him smile for the first time in days.

* * *

Dean spends hours flipping through the scrapbook, unable to tear his eyes away.  He finds all their old photostrips, the ones that hold memories he’s gone over time and time again.

* * *

One photostrip features Samantha and Gabrielle, Joelle and Tessa’s twin daughters (named after Joelle’s two craziest uncles, of course).  In it, the girls are four years old, all dressed up and perched on their grandfather’s laps – Dean has Gaby and Sammie’s with Cas.

The first three shots are more or less the same, the four of them all making hilarious and adorable faces at the camera.  But it’s the fourth frame that makes Dean smile now.  In it, Sammie and Cas’s hair are both a mess thanks to Dean, who had leaned over to run hands over both of their heads.  Dean’s sitting back with Gaby on his lap and a tiara perched on his head.  Both Dean and Cas’s mouths are wide open in laughter.

Now, he nearly laughs out loud at the memory.  Gaby had reached up and placed her bejeweled tiara on top of his head before pulling back and patting his cheek.  “You’re a pretty, pretty princess, Grampa Dean,” she had said, and Dean and Cas had just lost it, laughing until their stomachs ached and there were tears in their eyes.

* * *

There’s another strip of Dean and Cas with their third grandchild – Jimmy and his wife Kate’s son, Adam.

In the first two shots, Dean and Cas are squished into the booth, Dean with Adam on his lap.  The six month old is staring curiously at the camera, blowing spit bubbles while Cas looks over at him with a smile.  Dean, on the other hand, has his attention focused on the side of the booth, where Jimmy’s head can just be seen poking in.

“Dad, be careful!” Dean remembers him warning, panicked in the way only a first-time parent can be.

Dean had just frowned at his son.  “Calm down there, bud,” he remembers saying, “I raised you just fine, didn’t I?”

For the third photo, Dean hadn’t been able to help taunting his son just a bit.  He had held Adam out, Simba style, towards the camera.  The only things visible in the frame are Adam’s chubby onesie-clad stomach and Dean’s hands wrapped around his grandson.

The fourth frame shows Jimmy taking action.  Dean had pulled Adam back in quickly, but Jimmy had still reached out to grab his baby.  The photo mostly just shows Jimmy’s arms where they passed in front of the camera, but beyond him, Dean can just make out Cas, eyes crinkled in laughter.

God, he misses that man.

* * *

As Dean flips toward the end of the book, he finds a photostrip that makes his heart swell and ache all at the same time.

It was taken on their 50th wedding anniversary.  Their family had thrown them a huge party, complete with pie and a slideshow of their lives that had been both cheesy (Sam’s doing) and inappropriate (Gabe’s).  Of course, Dean and Cas had slipped out early and made their way to their favorite photobooth in the mall.

In the first shot, Dean is holding a giant sparkly five and Cas a giant zero – decorations stolen from their own party.  Both of them are dressed in suits, with huge smiles on their faces.  Looking at the photo now, Dean can see how Cas’s suit is just a bit too big in the shoulders – he had already started to lose weight by then, right before his health really started going downhill.

Dean has to wipe tears from his eyes, yet again, before he looks at the rest of the photostrip.

Cas had pulled his husband into a deep kiss in the second frame, he’s got a hand on Dean’s cheek and his wedding ring glints in the camera flash.

The third photo doesn’t seem like anything all that special, but Dean remembers how Cas had pulled back just far enough to look into his eyes when he whispered “I love you.”

In the fourth frame, their foreheads rest together as they simply look into each other’s eyes.  Dean can still vividly remember the way Cas used to look at him, eyes bright with so much love and affection.  No one had ever looked at Dean that way before Cas.

No one ever will again.

* * *

Finally, Dean makes it to the very last photostrip he and Cas had ever taken, the day before Cas had gone into the hospital for tests and never left.  Dean carries the matching strip in his wallet, never having made it back into the photo room.

They had both known what was happening at that point, and Cas had suggested a mini road trip to the photobooth where they had reunited before they went anywhere else.  Dean had never been able to say no to Cas when it came to photobooths, so of course he said yes.

He can still remember how beautiful Castiel had looked sitting in the passenger seat of the Impala.  He’d had to use an oxygen tank at that point, plastic tubing wrapped around his ears and nose, but his eyes had still shone brightly as he’d looked over at Dean and took his hand.

He had taken the tubing off for the photostrip, but he still looks fragile and unwell in the photos.

In the first picture, he and Dean have their arms around each other, smiling for the camera.

But the meaning of that day, of their trip to the hospital, had weighed heavily on them, and their smiles break in the second photo.

By the third shot, tears are running down their faces as they cling to each other, trying to keep it together.

The fourth, and final, photo shows Dean and Cas wrapped up in each others’ arms.  Cas’s face is tucked into the side of Dean’s neck, and Dean’s mouth is right by his husband’s ear.

Dean remembers whispering to Cas in that moment, telling him just how much he loved him, how it was going to be okay, how they were _both_ going to be okay.

But they had both known that it wasn’t true.

* * *

Dean’s emotionally exhausted by the time he reaches the end and moves to close the scrapbook, but his eyes catch on a piece of paper taped to the very last page.  When he pulls it out to get a better look, he realizes it’s a letter.  For him.  From Cas.

He sucks in a heavy breath, wipes away a few stray tears, and begins to read.

 

_Dean,_

_I know this must be difficult.  I can’t even imagine living without you, and yet here I am causing you to do the same thing.  I am so incredibly sorry, Dean, for leaving you alone like this._

_But I don’t want you to be sad.  We had our time together, and I am confident that we will have our time again._

_Never forget that I love you, Dean Winchester.  So, so much.  You have given me so many wonderful years of happiness, two beautiful children, and more love than anyone could possibly fit into one lifetime.  And I am so incredibly grateful._

_All I ask in return is that you enjoy the life you have right now.  Spend time with our children, and our grandchildren, our family and friends.  This book is full of our memories, but it’s time for you to make some new ones of your own._

_When I see you again, I’ll want to hear all about them._

_I love you, with all of my heart,_

_Castiel_

Dean reads the letter twice, unable to keep his tears from staining the page, before turning his face up to the ceiling.  He’s not a praying man, never has been, but he prays now.  He prays to Cas.  He prays, and he promises that the next time they meet, he will have plenty of stories to tell.

* * *

Joelle stands in the doorway, watching as her father stares down at the scrapbook in his lap.

She remembers when her papa had given it to her, just days before he passed.

“Your dad’s going to be sad,” he had said, “And that’s all right for a little while. But don’t let him give up, okay?  And if he does, you give him this.”

“Everything’s going to be okay, Joey,” Cas had said, “I promise.”

As Joelle watches her dad close the book and look up at the ceiling, a small smile still on his lips, she lets out a silent sigh of relief that her papa was right.

They’re going to be okay.


	10. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the end, folks! Thank you so much for reading :).

Castiel’s been here for three and a half years now, but his time has not been wasted, not at all.

When he first arrived in what he’s assumed is his own personal heaven, it had been a lush and endless field of green.  Now, a house stands in the middle of the field, a house that Castiel built with his own two hands.  He supposes he could have just willed the house into existence as a whole, but he wanted to do something different for himself, and for Dean.

It’s taken him all three and a half years to finish this project, but he’s finally done.  The house is perfect.  It’s just missing one thing.

So Castiel sits back, and he waits for Dean.

* * *

Death for Dean Winchester is a peaceful affair.  He goes to sleep one night and wakes up, not in his bed, but in a wide open stretch of green.

As he takes a moment to assess his surroundings, he notes that his body feels different.  There are no achy joints, and his vision is a perfect 20/20 without his glasses.  He looks down and realizes with a jolt of shock that his body is back as it was when he was around thirty.  And damn does it feel good to be back.

There’s noise from behind him, and he whirls around.  He finds himself standing in front of small but cozy looking two-story house.  His gaze sweeps downward from the chimney, to the stained glass of the second story window, to the porch, which holds a porch swing and…Dean’s husband.

* * *

Castiel had forgotten how beautiful Dean truly was.  It has nothing to do with his newfound youth (although that is one of the better perks up here); it’s merely the fact that Dean Winchester is everything Castiel loves, everything he’s been missing for three and a half long years.

“Cas,” is all Dean says, and then he’s running full speed towards the house.

Castiel barely has time to get down the steps before Dean has him in his arms and oh how Cas has missed this.  He holds on as tight as he can, burying his face in the crook of his husband’s neck and breathing in the familiar smell of Dean and love and home, as tears roll down his cheeks.

Dean pulls back to wipe those tears away with his thumbs.

“Don’t cry, babe,” he says, “I’m here.  I’m here.”

* * *

He’s finally here.  Finally back in Cas’s arms, finally home.  And Dean’s so happy, he feels like his heart just might burst.

“I’m here,” he tells Cas, beautiful, bright blue-eyed, Cas, “I’m here.  And I have so many memories to share with you.”

Castiel smiles at that, a wide gummy grin that Dean missed _so much_.  He takes Dean’s hand, pulling him towards the house.

“Come on,” he says, voice so much better than it was in Dean’s dreams, “I want to show you something.”

He turns back with a smile before leading the way into the house, and from the look on his face, Dean knows just what to expect.

* * *

Cas pulls him through the house, not giving him a chance to look around, before stopping in front of one of the doors and turning to his husband.

“We have so many memories to make, Dean,” Castiel says.

With that, he pushes the door open.

It’s a long room, with plain white walls that seem to stretch on endlessly, just begging to be filled up with something.

At the end of the room sits a photobooth.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And with that, I've finished my first long fic.
> 
> The first chapter of Photobooths was the very first Destiel fic I ever wrote, and I had no idea it would end up turning into this. But the whole experience has been totally awesome, and I appreciate all the feedback I've gotten from you guys.
> 
> Thank you again to everyone for reading, and once again, super sorry for all the sadness at the end. I just really needed Dean and Cas to end up together like super forever, and heaven was the best way to get them there.
> 
> If anyone's interested, you can find me on tumblr as amoreprofoundbondmakesmefree :).


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